WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – William & Mary claimed the doubles point and freshman Gur Trakhtenberg and senior Sean Joseph tallied singles wins, but Liberty rallied to edge the Tribe 4-3 on Wednesday afternoon at the Mackesy Tennis Center.
 
How it Happened
- The Tribe (3-6) took the doubles point with victories at the No. 2 and No. 3 positions. Trakhtenberg and Joseph won for the first time as a pair, downing Carl Roothman and Rodrigo Santiago Arraez, 6-3, on line two to give W&M the early lead.
- Senior Alexander Karman and junior Albert Hansen clinched the initial point of the match with a 6-4 victory over Matija Samardzic and Ernst Gouws at No. 3. The Tribe pair improved to 4-2 overall and 2-1 on line three.
- The Flames (6-8) quickly responded with singles wins at No. 2, No. 3, and No. 6 singles to give the visitors a 3-1 lead.
- Trakhtenberg won his third straight at the top spot to close the gap to 3-2. He upended Oklahoma State transfer Carl Roothman, 6-4, 6-1, for his 14th win of the year and fifth in dual-match competition.
- The Flames secured the team win with straight-sets win at No. 5.
- Joseph rounded out the Tribe scoring with a three-set win at No. 4. The Tribe senior won the opening set, 6-2, before Liberty's Chase Robinson answered with a 7-5 win in the second. In the third-set super tiebreaker, Robinson jumped out to a 3-1 lead, but Joseph stormed back to claim a 10-5 victory. It was his 10th win of the year and third in dual-match action.
 
Up Next
The Tribe hits the road to take on defending CAA Champion UNCW in Wilmington on Saturday, March 15, at noon.
 
Liberty 4, William & Mary 3
Singles
No. 1 – Gur Trakhtenberg (W&M) def. Carl Roothman (Liberty) – 6-4, 6-1
No. 2 – Siwanat Auytayakul (Liberty) def. Nikita Bortnichek (W&M) – 6-0, 6-2
No. 3 – Rodrigo Santiago Arraez (Liberty) def. Albert Hansen (W&M) – 6-1, 6-0
No. 4 – Sean Joseph (W&M) def. Chase Robinson (Liberty) – 6-2, 5-7, 10- 5
No. 5 – Ernst Gouws (Liberty) def. Alexander Karman (W&M) – 6-4, 6-0
No. 6 – Matija Samardzic (Liberty) def. Raz Katz (W&M) – 6-2. 6-0
Finishing Order: 2,3, 6, 1, 5*, 4
 
Doubles
No. 1 – Bortnichek/Katz (W&M) vs. Auytayakul/Robinson (Liberty) –DNF, 5-6
No. 2 – Trakhtenberg/Joseph (W&M) def. Roothman/Santiago (Liberty) – 6-3
No. 3 – Hansen/Karman (W&M) def. Gouws/Samardzic (Liberty) – 6-4
Finishing Order: 2, 3*