W&M Opens Dual Match Season at Home on Friday

The Tribe will face Temple at 3 p.m. and Richmond at 7:30 p.m. in the McCormack-Nagelsen Tennis Center.

01/17/08 12:00PM

Williamsburg - The William and Mary men’s tennis team will open its 2008 dual match season on Friday, Jan. 18, when its hosts Temple and Richmond at the McCormack-Nagelsen Tennis Center. W&M will battle the Owls at 3 p.m., before welcoming the Spiders to Williamsburg at 7:30 p.m. It will be the season opening matches for all three programs.

W&M is coming off one of its best season in recent history, finishing 16-12 overall with a national ranking of No. 45. The Tribe achieved its highest ever ITA national rankings at No. 31 in April. The College was ranked among the top 40 in the national for five straight weeks. The Green and Gold went on to earn an at-large berth into the NCAA Tournament, one of a CAA-best four schools to earn a bid. W&M enters this season ranked No. 43 nationally in the ITA rankings released on Jan. 8.

Richmond finished last season at 7-17 overall and 2-3 in Atlantic 10 play. Temple, who also competes in the A-10, fin-ished last season with a 9-13 overall mark and a 3-7 ledger in the conference. The Tribe is 1-1 all-time against Temple and it will be the first time the two teams have met in six years. The last time the two squad met, W&M defeated the Owls, 7-0, in Williamsburg. W&M leads the series against UR at 19-13, including a 13-7 ledger in Williamsburg. The Tribe has won 12 straight in the series dating back to the 1996 campaign. Last season, the College recorded a 7-0 vic-tory over the Spiders on Jan. 28.

W&M will wrap up the weekend with a trip to Charlottesville, Va., to battle No. 1-ranked Virginia on Sunday, Jan. 20, at 1 p.m. The Cavaliers advanced to the NCAA semifinals last season, before falling to eventual national champion Georgia. UVA returns the defending NCAA singles champion and the No. 1-ranked singles player in the country in Somdev Devvarman. Devvarman also teams with Treat Huey to comprise the nation’s top-ranked doubles team. The UVA lineup also features nationally ranked players in No. 3 Dominic Inglot, No. 12 Huey and No. 83 Houston Barrick. Four other Cavalier doubles teams along with Devvarman and Huey are ranked in the top 50 in the country. Lee Singer and Ted Angelinos are ranked No. 17 followed by Inglot nad Barrick at No. 25 and Sanam Singh and Michael Shabaz at No. 28. Singer and Singh round out the group at No. 50.