Tribe Earns Berth in CAA Title Match with 4-1 Win over ODU

The College garnered a spot in the league championship match for the sixth time since 1999.

04/19/08 5:00PM

Newport News, Va. - The William and Mary men’s tennis team leaped over a hurdle that had denied its chances for a Colonial Athletic Association Championship each of the last two seasons, downing the Old Dominion Monarchs, 4-1, in the CAA Semifinals on a warm Saturday afternoon at the Huntington Park Tennis Center. ODU stood in the way of the College in the semifinals in both 2006 and 2007, but the result was different this time around. The College improved to 16-12 on the year and garnered a spot in league title match for the sixth time since the 1999 season.

“I am very pleased with the guys overall performance today,” head coach Peter Daub said. “ODU is a tough team and they competed well, but I give our team credit for rising to the occasion. We played well at all three doubles spots and that really set the tone for us. I give a lot of credit to associate head coach Marcos Asse for all the hard work he has put in with the guys in conditioning. Our guys have the belief in themselves that they can go out and win any match whether it goes three sets or not.”

The Tribe turned in a dominating performance in doubles to claim the opening point of the match. The First-Team All-CAA pair of senior Alex Cojanu and junior Dominic Pagon staked the College to the early lead in doubles with an 8-3 win over Alex Seleznev and Eidy Igarashi at the top tandem’s slot. The win pushed the Tribe duo’s season mark to 5-4. The All-CAA tandem of senior Kavi Sud and freshman Sebastien Vidal clinched the doubles point for the second straight day, just beating the College’s No. 2 team of junior Marwan Ramadan and sophomore Keziel Juneau to the punch. Sud and Vidal trounced Matt Fawcett and Timo Gehrke, 8-2, to improve to 16-4 on the season. Ramadan and Juneau led their doubles tilt at No. 2 by a 7-2 score when the point was clinched for the Green and Gold.

Like he did the day before, Cojanu paced the College early in singles with another impressive performance. The three-time All-CAA singles selection steamrolled Seleznev, 6-0, 6-2, at the top slot to push the W&M lead to 2-0. The win was the 16th of the season for Cojanu and avenged a loss earlier this year to Seleznev.

Juneau wasted little time following suit with a straight-set win at the No. 4 singles position. After taking the opening set, 6-3, over Fanselow, the Repentigny, Quebec native broke his ODU counterparts serve in the ninth game of the second set and served out the victory, 6-4. The triumph was Juneau’s 15th of the year and extended the W&M cushion to 3-0.

While the Tribe was taking its comfortable leads at the No. 1 and No. 4 singles positions, the Monarchs were staging a comeback at the other individual slots. ODU took the first set at the No. 2, No. 3, No. 5 and No. 6 single positions and look poised to make the match a dogfight to the end.

The Green and Gold, like it had earlier this season against the Monarchs, persevered and rallied to force decisive third sets at three of those positions. For the second time in as many days, the Tribe rookie, Vidal, clinched W&M’s passage into the next round. This time, Vidal rallied from a set down to defeat Fawcett, 2-6, 6-1, 6-2, at the No. 5 spot to seal the College’s victory. The win was Vidal’s 10th dual match victory of the year and his 14th triumph overall.

The Tribe will square off with No. 26-ranked VCU in the CAA Championship match on Sunday, April 20, at 10 a.m. The match is scheduled to be played at the Huntington Park Tennis Center, weather permitting. With inclement weather forecasted for the area, the match could be forced indoors to the McCormack-Nagelsen Tennis Center in Williamsburg. Check TribeAthletics.com for updates. It will mark the sixth time since 1999 that W&M and VCU have met in the CAA title tilt. The winner will receive the leagues automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Photo Gallery

#2 William & Mary 4, #3 Old Dominion 1
Singles
No. 1 – Alex Cojanu (W&M) def. Alex Seleznev (ODU) - 6-0, 6-2
No. 2 – Marwan Ramadon (W&M) vs. Eidy Igarashi (ODU) - DNF
No. 3 – Rodrigo Souza (ODU) def. Dominic Pagon (W&M) - 6-1, 6-3
No. 4 – Keziel Juneau (W&M) def. Tobias Fanselow (ODU) - 6-3, 6-4
No. 5 – Sebastien Vidal (W&M) def. Matt Fawcett (ODU) - 2-6, 6-1, 6-2
No. 6 – Richard Wardell (W&M) vs. Yakov Diskin (ODU) - DNF
Finishing Order: 1, 4, 3, 5*

Doubles
No. 1 – Cojanu/Pagon (W&M) def. Seleznev/Igarashi (ODU), 8-3
No. 2 – Juneau/Ramadan (W&M) vs. Souza/Fanselow (ODU) - DNF
No. 3 – Vidal/Sud (W&M) def. Fawcett/Gehrke (ODU), 8-2
Finishing Order: 1, 3*