Coming off their ODAC quarterfinal comeback win over Virginia Wesleyan on Tuesday, the Randolph men's tennis team now prepares for an ODAC semifinal battle against Washington and Lee. The WildCats will face off against the Generals on Saturday at 9:00 am at W&L's home courts. This is the second straight year that the WildCats have advanced to the semifinals.
How They Got Here: Randolph went 12-5 in the regular season and 6-2 in conference play. The WildCats finished in a three-way tie with Shenandoah and Averett for 2-3-4. The tiebreaker went to lots. The Hornets had the #2 lot, the Cougars the #6 lot, and the WildCats the #7 lot. The WildCats hosted the Marlins on Tuesday in the quarterfinals. The 'Cats trailed 3-1 but rallied to win three singles matches to take the match 4-3. Washington and Lee went 9-10 in the regular season and undefeated in ODAC play to claim to top seed in the tournament. They shut out Roanoke 5-0 in one of the other quarterfinal matches.
The Series: The two teams will be meeting for the 21st time overall. The Generals have won all 20 of the previous matches.
Last Time: The two schools last played each other on Randolph's home court on March 25. The Generals won the match 5-2. W&L led 1-0 after doubles play. Andreas Mulner defeated Henry Imorde 6-3, 6-1 at second singles and Vincenzo Marchese was a 6-4, 6-1 winner over Justin Ilie at third singles. Jacob Martin and Mulner did defeat Imorde and Heys Parker at first doubles 6-4.
In the ODAC Tournament: This the second matchup between the Generals and WildCats in the ODAC Tournament and the first since 2016. W&L has qualified for the Tournament every year since 2010 outside of 2020 when the season was cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Generals have won 42 ODAC Championships.
The WildCats: Four WildCats have 10 or more singles wins on the season. Mulner is 17-6 playing primarily at second singles. Martin is 14-5 playing mostly at first singles. He was recently ranked #16 in the Atlantic South Region by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association. Marchese is 14-6 with an 11-3 record at third singles. Tinnes-Rimehaug has gone 13-7 in his first year with the WildCats. He has played to an 9-5 record at fourth singles. He was the clinching match for the WildCats on Tuesday as he defeated Sebastien Muller 6-4, 3-6, 6-4. Tinnes-Rimehaug and Jason Duval have had great success as a doubles duo as they have a collective 15-8 record. Mulner and Martin are 12-9 with a 9-7 dual record at first doubles.
The Generals: Sanjheev Rao and Sahil Arora both have a team-leading 11 singles wins. Heys Parker has gone 7-11 at first singles. Parker and Imorde are 7-5 at first doubles. Arora and Pearce Lane are 7-3 at third doubles.
