Tribe Opens Season with Sweeps of Temple, Richmond

W&M will travel to No. 1 Virginia on Sunday, Jan. 20, at 1 p.m.

01/18/08 10:00PM

Williamsburg - The No. 43-ranked William and Mary men’s tennis team opened the 2008 dual match campaign with a pair of victories over Temple and Richmond at the McCormack-Nagelsen Tennis Center on Friday night. The College swept both opponents by matching 7-0 scores to open the season at a perfect 2-0.

In the opening match of the night against Temple, the Tribe claimed all three doubles matches to take the opening point of the contest. The senior duo of Alex Cojanu and Kavi Sud made quick work of Andrew Choi and Zach Tobias, 8-0, at the No. 3 slot, while the W&M tandem of junior Dominic Pagon and freshman Sebastien Vidal clinched the doubles point with an 8-3 win over Eduardo Saavedra and Ricardo Velazquez at the No. 2 spot. Junior Alex Zuck and sophomore Richard Wardell rounded out the W&M doubles sweep with an 8-4 win over Pavlos Stephanides and Nathan Spunda at the top pairs spot.

Wardell was first off the court in singles for the Tribe with a 6-1, 6-1 win over Saavedra at the No. 3 spot. W&M dominated the top of the lineup in quick fashion as Pagon won 6-1, 6-2 at the No. 2 slot over Velazquez, and Cojanu clinched the match with a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Spunda at the top singles position. Cojanu defeated an Owl opponent that turned in an impressive sophomore campaign that included first-team All-Atlantic 10 honors and a 19-9 singles ledger last season.

Juniors Alex Zuck and Marwan Ramadan won in straight sets at the No. 4 and No. 5 positions, while the rookie Vidal rounded out the Tribe sweep with a 6-4, 6-1 victory over Choi in the No. 6 position.

In the night cap, the Tribe once again swept through the doubles, but this time using a completely different lineup. W&M’s No. 2 pair of Vidal and Sud rolled past Richmond’s David Berry and Chris Louis, 8-3. Pagon and Wardell clinched the doubles point for the College with an 8-4 victory over William Minter and Doug Banker at the top tandem’s spot. The duo of Zuck and freshman Varun Pandit rounded out the doubles sweep with a victory at the No. 3 pairs spot.

Ramadan completed a perfect day with a convincing 6-0, 6-1 win over Sami Belakhlef at the No. 4 singles position. Cojanu also wrapped up an undefeated day with his second victory at the No. 1 singles slot, downing Banker, 6-2, 6-2. The victories on the day bumped Ramadan’s season win total to eight, while Cojanu’s tallied his fifth and sixth singles triumphs of the season.

Wardell clinched the match with his second win of the day at the No. 3 singles slot. He disposed of Michael Sommer, 6-2, 6-2, for his fifth singles win of the season.

Pagon and Zuck both finished with perfect 4-0 marks on the day between doubles and singles. Pagon improved to 11-5 on the season with a win over Chris Louis at the No. 2 position. Zuck tallied his sixth singles win of the year with a victory at the No. 5 slot against the Spiders.

Pandit recorded his first collegiate singles victory at the No. 6 spot for the Tribe. The Katy, Texas, native won the opening set in a tiebreaker, 7-6, before downing Drew Crank, 6-4, in the second set.

The Tribe will return to action on Sunday, Jan. 20, when it travels to Charlottesville, Va., to face No. 1-ranked Virginia at 1 p.m. The Cavalier lineup features four ranked singles players and five ranked doubles teams, including the top-ranked singles player and doubles team in the nation.

#43 William and Mary 7, Richmond 0
Singles
No. 1 – Alex Cojanu (W&M) def. Doug Banker (UR) – 6-2, 6-2
No. 2 – Dominic Pagon (W&M) def. Chris Louis (UR) – 6-1, 6-4
No. 3 – Richard Wardell (W&M) def. Michael Sommer (UR) – 6-2, 6-2
No. 4 – Marwan Ramdan (W&M) def. Sami Belakhlef (UR) - 6-0, 6-1
No. 5 – Alex Zuck (W&M) def. William Minter (UR) - 6-3, 6-4
No. 6 – Varun Pandit (W&M) def. Drew Crank (UR) – 7-6, 6-4
Finishing Order: 4, 1, 3*, 6, 2, 5

Doubles
No. 1 – Pagon/Wardell (W&M) vs. Minter/Banker (UR) – 8-4
No. 2 – Sebasiten Vidal/Kavi Sud (W&M) def. David Berry/Louis (UR) – 8-3
No. 3 – Zuck/Pandit (W&M) def. Crank/Sommer (UR) - 8-4
Finishing Order: 2, 1*, 3

#43 William and Mary 7, Temple 0
Singles
No. 1 – Alex Cojanu (W&M) def. Nathan Spunda (Temple) – 6-1, 6-2
No. 2 – Dominic Pagon (W&M) def. Ricardo Velazquez (Temple) – 6-1, 6-2
No. 3 – Richard Wardell (W&M) def. Eduardo Saavedra (Temple) – 6-1, 6-1
No. 4 – Alex Zuck (W&M) def. Pavlos Stephanides (Temple) – 6-2, 6-4
No. 5 – Marwan Ramadan (W&M) def. Zach Tobias (Temple) – 6-0, 6-3
No. 6 – Sebastien Vidal (W&M) def. Andrew Choi (Temple) – 6-4, 6-1
Finishing Order: 3, 2, 1*, 4, 5, 6

Doubles
No. 1 – Zuck/Wardell (W&M) vs. Stephanides/Spunda (Temple) – 8-4
No. 2 – Pagon/Vidal (W&M) def. Saavedra/Velazquez (Temple) – 8-3
No. 3 – Cojanu/Sud (W&M) def. Choi/Tobias (Temple) – 8-0
Finishing Order: 3, 2*, 1