W&M Men's Tennis Falls at No. 11 Duke, 5-2

01/23/03

DURHAM, NC - William and Mary’s 52nd-ranked men’s tennis team suffered its first defeat of the season, losing on the road to No. 11 Duke, 5-2, this afternoon at the Sheffield Indoor Tennis Center on the Duke campus. The loss drops the Tribe’s record to 3-1, while the Blue Devils improve to 1-0.

Jeff Kader (Geneva, OH) and Zack Malmgren (Cibalo, TX) won at No. 3 doubles, defeating Stephen Amritaj/Peter Shults, 9-7. However, Duke took the team doubles point, as Phillip King and Michael Yani defeated Sean Kelleher (Forty Fort, PA) and Stephen Ward (Douglaston, NY), 8-4, in the top match, while W&M’s Alex Fish (Scituate, MA) and Geoff Russell (Phoenix, AZ) fell to 15th-ranked Jonathan Stokke/Jason Zimmermann, 8-5, at No. 2.

The Tribe recorded its two points in the match by winning at the fifth and sixth singles positions. Fish defeated Yorke Allen, 6-3, 7-5, at No. 5. Malmgren remained undefeated in singles in the 2003 dual match season, coming from behind to win against Amritaj, 2-6, 7-6 (3), 1-0 (10-7), at No. 6.

“I’m disappointed in the loss, although I know that Duke’s a highly ranked team,” said W&M head coach Peter Daub. “I thought we should have won the doubles point. We certainly were in enough singles matches that we could have come through in the end and won those matches. We have to get ready for Virginia, but I feel disappointed for our team that we didn’t pull out the victory.”

The Tribe returns to action next Wednesday, January 29, on the road against 55th-ranked Virginia at 6:00 PM.

#11 Duke 5, #52 William and Mary 2
Singles
1. Phillip King (DU) d. Jeff Kader; 6-1, 6-2
2. #33 Michael Yani (DU) d. Sean Kelleher; 5-7, 7-6 (5), 1-0 (10-7)
3. #77 Ludovic Walter (DU) d. Geoff Russell; 6-3, 6-2
4. Jonathan Stokke (DU) d. Stephen Ward; 6-4, 7-5
5. Alex Fish (W&M) d. Yorke Allen; 6-3, 7-5
6. Zack Malmgren (W&M) d. Stephen Amritraj; 2-6, 7-6 (3), 1-0 (10-7)

Doubles
1. King/Yani (DU) d. Kelleher/Ward; 8-4
2. #15 Stokke/Jason Zimmermann (DU) d. Fish/Russell; 8-5
3. Kader/Malmgren (W&M) d. Amritraj/Peter Shults; 9-7