HARRISONBURG, Va. – Playing shorthanded, William & Mary men's tennis rallied with a trio of singles wins but dropped a narrow 4-3 decision at James Madison on Friday afternoon.

The Tribe was forced to play without its top player in reigning CAA Rookie of the Year Oliver Hague, Freshman Gur Traktenberg (No. 1), sophomore Nikita Bortnichek (No. 3), and junior Albert Hansen (No. 4) each moved up a spot to tally singles wins against the Dukes.
 
How It Happened
- JMU opened the match by taking the doubles point with wins at the top two positions. Senior Alexander Karman and Hansen posted a 6-3 win in their first match together in dual-match play over Harrison Lee and Dennis Wiebe at No. 3. The Tribe pair is 3-1 on the year.
- With only three indoor courts available at the tennis facility, the first three matches started action against JMU. W&M recorded wins at two of those three spots, No. 1 and No. 3, to pull even with the Dukes.
- Trakhtenberg moved up to the No. 1 spot and notched a straight-sets win. He downed Aurelien Schmitt, 7-5, 6-4, for his 12th win of the season.
- Bortnichek won matching 6-3 sets at the No. 3 spot over Zach Fleishman. He evened his dual-match record at 3-3 with his eighth win of the year.
- The balance of the match came down to positions No. 4, No. 5, and No. 6 with each team needing two wins to register the team triumph.
- Hansen rallied for a three-set win at No. 4 for the Tribe's third point. After dropping the first set, 6-2, to Edson Sanchez, the Tribe junior rolled in the final two, dropping just one game in 6-0, 6-1 wins. It was Hansen's second-straight win and his sixth overall on the season.
- Unfortunately for the Tribe, JMU countered with wins at No. 5 and No. 6 to secure the team win.
 
Up Next
The Tribe returns home to host CAA foe Monmouth on Sunday, March 9, at 3 p.m. The match will be played at the Mackesy Tennis Center, weather permitting, and the live stream will be available on PlaySight.
 
James Madison 4, William & Mary 3
Singles
No. 1 – Gur Trakhtenberg (W&M) def. Aurelien Schmitt (JMU) – 7-5, 6-4
No. 2 – Esteve Agusti (JMU) def. Sean Joseph (W&M) – 6-4, 6-2
No. 3 – Nikita Bortnichek (W&M) def. Zach Fleishman (JMU) – 6-3, 6-3
No. 4 – Albert Hansen (W&M) def. Edson Sanchez (JMU) – 2-6, 6-0, 6-1
No. 5 – Dennis Wiebe (JMU) def. Alexander Karman (W&M) – 7-5, 7-5
No. 6 – Harrison Lee (JMU) def. Raz Katz (W&M) – 6-3, 6-3
Finishing Order: 1, 3, 2, 6, 4, 5*
 
Doubles
No. 1 – Agusti/Fleishman (JMU) def. Bortnichek/Katz (W&M) – 6-2
No. 2 – Sanchez/Schmitt (JMU) def. Joseph/Trakhtenberg (W&M) – 6-3
No. 3 – Hansen/Karman (W&M) def. Lee/Wiebe (JMU) – 6-3
Finishing Order: 1, 3, 2*