Tribe Hosts Doubleheader on Saturday

W&M will welcome No. 15 Wake Forest and Longwood to the McCormack-Nagelsen Tennis Center on Jan. 26.

01/25/08 5:00PM

Williamsburg - Fresh off its riveting comeback victory over No. 38 Old Dominion on Wednesday, the No. 43-ranked William and Mary men’s tennis team will host a pair of foes at the McCormack-Nagelsen Tennis Center on Saturday, Jan. 26. The Tribe will battle its third straight nationally ranked foe in No. 15 Wake Forest at 10 a.m., before welcoming instate opponent Longwood to Williamsburg at 6 p.m.

W&M is off to a 3-1 start on the year with its lone defeat coming at the hands of No. 1-ranked Virginia. The College dropped the doubles point and five of the six first sets in singles against ODU. The Tribe put its will to win on displaying rallying to win five of those singles matches, all of which went to three sets, on its way to a 5-2 win over the Monarchs. Juniors Dominic Pagon (No. 2), Marwan Ramdan (No. 5) and Alex Zuck (No. 6) along with sophomores Keziel Juneau (No. 3) and Richard Wardell (No. 4) claimed singles wins against ODU for the Tribe.

The match with W&M will be the season opener for Wake Forest, who enters the dual-match campaign ranked No. 15 by the ITA. The Demon Deacons advanced to the NCAA Round of 16 last season after going 23-7 during the dual-match season. The Wake Forest lineup features a pair of nationally singles players and two doubles teams in the top 50. Cory Parr headlines the Demon Deacon group at No. 64, while Steven Forman is No. 91. Parr and Forman combine to comprise the No. 21 doubles team in the nation, while Mariusz Adamski and Carlos Salmon are ranked No. 45. Last season, Wake Forest downed W&M, 6-1, in Winston-Salem, N.C. Alex Cojanu claimed the lone Tribe point with a win at the No. 2 slot.

Longwood is 0-3 on the season after dropping a trio of matches to open the season at the VCU 4x1 Invitational. The Lancers fell to Georgetown, 3-0, before dropping 5-0 decisions to a pair of nationally ranked opponents in No. 49 East Tennessee State and No. 34 VCU. Last season, W&M downed Longwood, 7-0, in Williamsburg.

The Tribe will hit the road following its Jan. 26 doubleheader with three matches on the road. The College will face Ivy League foes Brown and Harvard on Jan. 31 and Feb. 1, respectively, before battling Purdue in Boston on Feb. 3. The Brown match is slated for a 3 p.m. start time, while both matches in Boston are schedule for 6 p.m. start times. W&M returns home with doubleheaders on Feb. 9 and Feb. 10.