Tribe Splits Senior Day Double Dip

Prior to the second match of the day against Howard, W&M honored its pair of seniors Alex Cojanu and Kavi Sud.

04/11/08 11:00PM

Williamsburg - The No. 57 William and Mary men’s tennis team split its Senior Day doubleheader on a warm Friday afternoon at the Busch Tennis Courts. W&M dropped a 4-1 decision in the opener to No. 65 South Alabama, before sweeping the night cap, 7-0, over Howard. Prior to the second match of the day, the Tribe honored its senior duo of Alex Cojanu and Kavi Sud for their contributions to the W&M program. The College wrapped up the regular season at 14-12 on the season.

In the opener, South Alabama took the doubles point and claimed the top three singles positions to secure the team victory. After the Jaguars and Tribe split the opening two doubles matches, the initial point of the tilt came down to a hotly contested affair between the Tribe’s team of Sud and Sebastien Vidal and South Alabama’s duo Marek Sramek and Aaron Krisan. The back-and-forth battle went to a tiebreaker with the Jaguars claiming the opening point of the match, 9-8 (5).

The College found success in a first-time pairing at the No. 2 doubles slot. The duo of sophomore Keziel Juneau and junior Marwan Ramadan breezed past Robert Hodel and Michael O’Brien, 8-2, to get the Tribe off to a solid start in pair’s competition.

On his senior day, Sud drew the Tribe even at one with an impressive straight-sets victory over O’Brien at the No. 6 position. The Allentown, Pa., native disposed of his Jaguar opponent, 6-0, 6-1 for his fifth singles victory of the season. South Alabama would take the match though, claiming the top three singles positions to clinch a 4-1 team triumph.

In the night cap, the Tribe started the match by taking both doubles positions. Cojanu and junior Dominic Pagon downed Chris Brown and Armon Murray at the top pair’s position for their fourth win of the season, while Sud and Gullickson upped their ledger to 2-0 on the year with a win at No. 2 over Neilahb Avasthi and Amato Nocera.

Both Cojanu and Sud capped their collegiate home careers with singles wins at the No. 1 and No. 3 slots, respectively. Cojanu downed Brown for his 15th win of the year, while Sud evened his season mark at 6-6 with a victory over Murray. Junior Marwan Ramadan claimed his team-leading 21st win of the year with a triumph over Avasthi at the No. 2 slot.

A pair of freshmen, Varun Pandit and Ben Wirth, rounded out the Tribe sweep with victories at the No. 4 and No. 5 singles positions, respectively. Pandit remained perfect in dual-match play at 4-0, defeating Chad Jones. Wirth notched his first collegiate dual-match win and his eighth triumph of the season with a victory over Nocera.

The Tribe will return to action when it takes part in the 2008 Colonial Athletic Association Championship, April 17-20. The event will be played at the Huntington Park Tennis Center in Newport News, Va. The seedings and pairings for the championship will be released early next week.

#65 South Alabama 4, #57 William and Mary 1
Singles
No. 1 – #28 Jack Baker (USA) def. Alex Cojanu (W&M) – 6-4, 6-1
No. 2 – Robert Hodel (USA) def. Marwan Ramadan (W&M) – 6-0, 6-3
No. 3 – Marek Sramek (USA) def. Dominic Pagon (W&M) – 6-1, 6-1
No. 4 – Keziel Juneau (W&M) vs. R.J. Nagel (USA) – DNF
No. 5 – Sebastien Vidal (W&M) vs. Aaron Krisan (USA) – DNF
No. 6 – Kavi Sud (W&M) def. Michael O’Brien (USA) – 6-0, 6-1
Finishing Order: 6, 2, 3, 1*

Doubles
No. 1 - Baker/Nagel (USA) def. Cojanu/Pagon (W&M) – 8-4
No. 2 – Juneau/Ramadan (W&M) def. Hodel/O’Brien (USA) – 8-2
No. 3 – Sramek/Krisan (USA) def. Kavi Sud/Vidal (W&M) – 9-8 (5)
Finishing Order: 2, 1, 3*

#57 William and Mary 7, Howard 0
Singles
No. 1 – Alex Cojanu (W&M) def. Christopher Brown (Howard) - 6-0, 6-1
No. 2 – Marwan Ramadan (W&M) def. Neilahb Avasthi (Howard) - 6-3, 6-2
No. 3 – Kavi Sud (W&M) def. Armon Murray (Howard) - 6-0, 6-2
No. 4 – Varun Pandit (W&M) def. Chad Jones (Howard) - 6-0, 6-0
No. 5 – Ben Wirth (W&M) def. Amato Nocera (Howard) - 6-2, 6-1
No. 6 – W&M wins by default

Doubles
No. 1 – Cojanu/Pagon (W&M) def. Brown/Murray (Howard) - 8-1
No. 2 – Sud/Gullickson (W&M) def. Avasthi/Nocera (Howard) - 8-1
No. 3 – W&M wins by default