WILLIAMSBURG –- William & Mary (W&M) men’s tennis earned its best end of the year national ranking in 14 years, coming in at No. 59 in the final Oracle/Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) National Rankings released on Wednesday.
The Tribe won seven of its final nine matches, advanced to the CAA Championship match and ended the year at 9-6 overall. It marked the second time in the last four years under head coach Jeff Kader that the Tribe finished the year in the national ranking. This season marks the program’s highest end of the year national ranking since it closed out the 2007 campaign at No. 45 in the country.
In total, the Tribe won three matches against teams in the national top 70 in 2021. The Green and Gold upset No. 53-ranked Old Dominion, 4-3, thanks to a three-set win from senior Chen Ruo at No. 6 singles on April 10. The Tribe also topped No. 61-ranked and eventual Southern Conference Champion East Tennessee State to open the season behind a clinching win from graduate student Brenden Volk.
In the CAA Tournament, the Tribe topped Elon in a thrilling 4-3 win on May 1, rallied from a 3-1 deficit thanks to three straight three-set singles wins from Ruo (No. 6), graduate student Lev Kazakov (No. 2) and senior Finbar Talcott (No. 4). W&M nearly rallied from a 3-1 deficit in the championship match, but suffered a 4-3 setback to No. 57-ranked UNCW.
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