WILLIAMSBURG, VA. – Men's Tennis dropped a narrow decision at William and Mary on Monday afternoon in a match that lasted four and a half hours. GWU now sits at 11-5 on the season with four of their losses being by the narrowest of margins at 4-3 scorelines.
"We laid it all out there today and now we have some big opportunities ahead of us and are ready for the challenges," said Head Coach
Mike Griffith.
Gardner-Webb got the early lead during the afternoon as they claimed the doubles point. The Tribe got the decision on court #2, the first to conclude by a 6-4 score. The Runnin' Bulldogs responded by getting a 6-4 win on court #3 with
Cathal Butler and
Sebastian Harris as well as a 6-4 decision from the topflight with
Eduardo Dias and
Chrisjan Van Wyk providing the clincher.
William and Mary won the first two singles matches to conclude in straight sets from courts #2 and #4. Harris was the first player from GWU to get a victory in singles with a 7-6 (5), 6-4 from court #6. This brought the match even at 2-2 with three matches left to play.
The Tribe put themselves a point away from winning with a 3-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4 victory on court #3, but GWU was a point away as well after a victory from position #5.
Kim Niethammer got the decision by a 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 scoreline.
The overall team winner came down to the decision from the topflight and each set needed a tiebreaker to determine its victor. Dias dropped the first 7-6 (9), but won the second 7-6 (5) to send it to a third. William and Mary's George Davis came away victorious as he won the final set 7-6 (1) to provide the decisive fourth point for the Tribe.
The Runnin' Bulldogs will now enjoy the rest of spring break as the prepare for the final stretch of matches to the regular season. They have ten days between today and their next competition, which is Thursday, March 23 at Radford. GWU will then play a pair of home matches against Longwood (3/25) and Davidson (3/26). The season finishes with Senior Day against UNC Asheville on April 6 in the final home match of the season and concludes at UNC Wilmington on April 13.
