LEXINGTON, Va. – The Old Dominion Athletic Conference announced the seedings for the upcoming ODAC Men's Tennis Championship and Washington and Lee has claimed the top seed.
 
W&L has won 12 straight conference championships and 40 ODAC Championships since the league began play back in 1977. The last team other than W&L that claimed the conference crown was Hampden-Sydney back in 2009.
 
This year's tournament will be contested in Lexington, as W&L is the host site for the championship event. The Generals (15-6, 10-0 ODAC) will open the tournament with a quarterfinal matchup against eighth-seeded Randolph-Macon (7-6, 3-6 ODAC) on Wednesday at 3:30 pm. Should W&L win, the Generals would then face the winner of the quarterfinal between fourth-seeded Virginia Wesleyan (9-7, 6-3 ODAC) and fifth-seeded Lynchburg (12-6, 6-3 ODAC) on Saturday at 1:30 pm. The championship match will be held on Sunday at 1:00 pm.
 
The Generals' quarterfinal match against Randolph-Macon marks a rematch of the teams' September 24 meeting in Lexington, when the Generals claimed a 9-0 victory. W&L won all nine ODAC matches this season, and only dropped individual matches in an 8-1 win over Hampden-Sydney on March 24 and a 7-2 win over Averett on April 1.
 
Four different Generals have totaled double-digit win totals in singles play this season, led by sophomore Evan Erb (St. Louis, Mo. / MICDS). Erb will enter tournament play with a 17-5 record this season, which includes a 13-2 mark in dual matches while playing at the No. 1 position.
 
Sophomore Eli Hirshberg (Alpharetta, Ga. / Johns Creek) comes in next with a 15-7 singles record, with an 8-4 record coming from the No. 4 position. He has also mixed in a combined 3-1 record across No. 2 and No. 3. Senior Evan Brady (Glen Head, N.Y. / Chaminade) and junior Connor Coleman (Birmingham, Ala. / Briarwood Christian) are tied with 13 singles wins this season, with Coleman edging Brady in winning percentage. Coleman is 13-7 this season and has played a team-high 11 matches at the No. 5 position, going 8-3 in those matches. Brady is 13-9 overall and figures to be W&L's No. 3 singles player with a team-best 5-3 mark at that spot.
 
Sophomores Will Kistler (Hilton Head, S.C. / Laurel Springs School) and James Kurani (Charlotte, N.C. / Providence Day) round out the probable six singles players for the Blue and White. Kistler, the reigning ODAC Rookie of the Year, is 7-13 this season in singles play and will likely factor into the No. 2 position with a team-high nine appearances. Kurani enters the week at an even 7-7 in singles play, with nine matches played at No. 6. Kurani has gone 4-5 at No. 6 and 3-2 combined between No. 4 and No. 5.
 
Those six players are also the most likely to cover the three doubles positions, headlined by Erb and Brady at No. 1. Their season as a tandem has been highlighted by a trip to the ITA Cup back in October after they advanced to the championship match at the ITA Southeast Regional Championships. Erb and Brady have played all their doubles matches together this season, all at No. 1 in dual competition, and they hold a 21-7 record.
 
Kistler and Hirshberg have been W&L's most common doubles team at No. 2 this season, with 15 matches at that position and 19 matches played together overall. They are 11-8 this season when playing together and 10-5 at No. 2, while Hirshberg is 13-8 in doubles play to a mark of 12-8 for Kistler.
 
Coleman and Kurani will likely cover No. 3 doubles this week, as they have made a team-high 15 appearances at No. 3, while no other doubles combo has made multiple appearances at that position. Together, Coleman and Kurani are 10-5 at No. 3 and 11-5 overall as a doubles tandem, and Coleman is 15-8 across all his doubles matches to 11-5 for Kurani.
 
The W&L quarterfinal match against Randolph-Macon, as well as all semifinal and championship matches, will feature live scoring. More information about the 2023 ODAC Men's Tennis Championship can be found on the ODAC Championship site.