WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – Freshman Raz Katz captured a three-set win, but William & Mary men's tennis suffered a narrow 4-1 match to reigning Southland Conference Champion and No. 74-ranked NJIT on Monday afternoon at the McCormack-Nagelsen Tennis Center.
 
Katz rallied for a three-set win at No. 5 singles to close the NJIT (10-2) gap to 3-1. After dropping the first set to Maxime Hankins, the Tribe rookie bounced back by just dropping two games in winning the final two sets, 6-2, 6-0. It was Kaz ninth win of the season and fourth in dual-match play.
 
In total four of the six singles matches came down to three sets. The Tribe (3-8) needed to secure wins in all four to pull out the team triumph. Along with Katz's victory, freshman Gur Trakhtenberg (No. 1), sophomore Nikita Bortnichek (No. 2) and senior Sean Joseph (No. 4) won the opening set in their respective matches.
 
Unfortunately, Nejc Skorjanc bounced back to take the No. 2 post with a narrow 6-4 win in the third set over Bortnichek to secure the Highlanders' 4-1 win. Trakhtenberg and Joseph's were locked in battles in set three when their matches were abandoned with the team result decided.
 
In doubles, the Tribe started off strong with a win on court 2 by Joseph and Trakhtenberg. The pair recorded their fourth win in a row, downing Oscar Callo von Platen and Soma Fukuhara, 6-2. However, NJIT responded with victories at the No. 1 and No. 3 spots to take a 1-0 advantage. The Highlanders pushed their lead to 3-0 with straight-set wins at No. 3 and No. 6.
 
Up Next
The Tribe returns to action next week when it hosts Longwood  at the Mackesy Tennis Center, weather permitting, on Tuesday, March 25, at 4 p.m.

#74 NJIT 4, William & Mary 1
Singles 
No. 1 – Gur Trakhtenberg (W&M) vs. Pablo Perez Ramos (NJIT) – DNF, 7-6 (5), 3-6, 3-2
No. 2 – Nejc Skorjanc (NJIT) def. Nikita Bortnichek (W&M) – 4-6, 6-2, 6-4
No. 3 – Oscar Callo von Platen (NJIT) def. Albert Hansen (W&M) – 6-1, 6-2
No. 4 – Sean Joseph (W&M) vs. Soma Fukuhara (NJIT) – DNF, 7-6 (2), 4-6, 2-3
No. 5 – Raz Katz (W&M) def. Maxime Hankins (NJIT) – 3-6, 6-2, 6-0
No. 6 – German Lopez Andujar (NJIT) def. Bryan Volk (W&M) – 6-1, 6-0
Finishing Order: 6, 3, 5, 2*
 
Doubles 
No. 1 – Perez Ramos/Skorjanc (NJIT) def. Katz/Bortnichek (W&M) – 6-2
No. 2 – Trakhtenberg/Joseph (W&M) def. Callo von Platen/Fukuhara (NJIT) – 6-2
No. 3 – Risan/Lopez Andujar (NJIT) def. Karman/Hansen (W&M) – 6-3
Finishing Order: 2, 1, 3*