W&M Men’s Tennis Shuts Out Old Dominion, 7-0

Tribe’s Jeff Kader Upsets 26th-Ranked Izak van der Merwe in Straight Sets

04/06/05 8:39PM

WILLIAMSBURG, VA - William and Mary senior Jeff Kader (Geneva, OH), ranked 60th in the nation, upset No. 26 Izak van der Merwe in straight sets, clinching the Tribe men’s tennis team’s 7-0 win over No. 69 Old Dominion at the Busch Tennis Courts this afternoon.

The win improves the Tribe’s record to 5-13 overall and 3-0 in the Colonial Athletic Association, while the Monarchs drop to 11-11 (1-1 CAA).

The match began with doubles, where the Tribe swept all three positions for a 1-0 lead. W&M’s duo of senior Alex Fish (Scituate, MA) and sophomore Colin O’Brien (Dublin, Ireland) were finished first, winning at No. 3, 8-4 over Julian Cirimbelli and Eidy Igarashi. Senior Sean Kelleher (Forty Fort, PA) and junior Stephen Ward (Douglaston, NY) clinched the point with an 8-5 win at No. 1 over Rodrigo Souza and van der Merwe, and senior Jeff Kader (Geneva, OH) and freshman Alex Cojanu (Hallandale, FL) completed the sweep with a 9-7 win at No. 2 over Henrique Cancado and Nate Grover.

Ward quickly gave the Tribe a 2-0 lead with his 6-1, 6-2 win at No. 5 singles over Souza and Kelleher put the Tribe one point away from victory with a 6-3, 6-2 win at No. 3 over Igarashi. Kader clinched the match with his upset win on court one, defeating van der Merwe, 7-6 (2), 6-3. Once the team match had been decided, Old Dominion retired from the remaining three singles matches. The Tribe was three or less points away from victory on two of those courts, with Cojanu leading Adriano Mello, 6-2, 5-1 (40-15) at No. 4 and freshman Matt Rubenstein (East Hampton, NY) serving up 4-2 in a second-set tiebreaker, after winning his first set, 6-3, over Cirimbelli at six. O’Brien won his first set at No. 2 over Cancado, 6-3, and the two were tied at two games each in the second.

W&M will continue its season-ending homestand on Saturday, when the Tribe hosts No. 36 South Alabama at 9:00 AM on the College’s Busch Courts. Old Dominion will end its regular season on Sunday with matches against UNC Wilmington and North Carolina State in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Match Notes: William and Mary improves to 15-23 against Old Dominion since the start of the 1977 season ... Jeff Kader won his 86th career singles match, tying him with Scott Lindsey for fourth in school history, since 1986 ... Today’s win was his seventh of the season over a ranked opponent ... This was the Tribe’s second shutout win of the season and its first over a ranked opponent since winning at No. 33 San Diego State on January 13, 2003.


William and Mary 7, #69 Old Dominion 0
Singles
1. #60 Jeff Kader (W&M) d. #26 Izak van der Merwe; 7-6 (2), 6-3
2. Colin O’Brien (W&M) d. Henrique Cancado; 7-5, 2-2, ret.
3. Sean Kelleher (W&M) d. Eidy Igarashi; 6-3, 6-2
4. Alex Cojanu (W&M) d. Adriano Mello; 6-2, 5-1, ret.
5. Stephen Ward (W&M) d. Rodrigo Souza; 6-1, 6-2
6. Matt Rubenstein (W&M) d. Julian Cirimbelli; 6-3, 6-6, ret.
Order of finish: 5, 3, 1, [2, 4, 6]

Doubles
1. Kelleher/Ward (W&M) d. Souza/van der Merwe; 8-5
2. Cojanu/Kader (W&M) d. Cancado/Nate Grover; 9-7
3. Alex Fish/O’Brien (W&M) d. Cirimbelli/Igarashi; 8-4
Order of finish: 3, 1, 2