MEN'S TENNIS DROPS MATCH TO EAST CAROLINA, 5-2

Wednesday, March 11

Conway, SC

9 a.m.

James Madison University

East Carolina

3/11/2009 4:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis

CONWAY, S.C., Mar. 11, 2009 -- The James Madison men's tennis team, continued its spring break tour of South Carolina with a 5-2 non-conference loss to East Carolina on Wednesday. The Dukes fell to 2-9 with the loss while the Pirates improved to 11-1.

ECU took an early 1-0 lead in the match by sweeping all three doubles points. After a smooth win at No. 3 doubles, the Pirates locked up the point with an 8-5 win at No. 2 doubles. Jaroslav Horvath and Denis Ermilov completed the sweep with an 8-7 (5) win at No. 1 doubles over junior Mike Smith (Fairfax Station, Va./Robinson) and freshman Tommi Nissinen (Oulu, Finland/Kastellin Lukio).

The Dukes won a pair of matches in singles play as Nissinen downed Ermilov 6-4, 6-2 at No. 3 singles, while sophomore Yaroslav Voznenko (Kherscon, Ukraine/Khescon Tech Lyceum) continued his solid play with a 7-6(2), 6-2 win over Bryan Oakley.

The Pirates sealed the win with wins at Nos. 1, 2, 4 and 5 to take a 5-2 win over the Dukes.

Madison returns to the court on Saturday as they will take on Coastal Carolina in a 10 a.m. match.

ECU 5, JMU 2

Doubles

No. 1 -- Horvath/Ermilov (ECU) d. Smith/Nissinen (JMU) 8-7 (5)

No. 2 -- Shalmerod/Kochelov (ECU) d. Robinson/Rubenstein (JMU) 8-5

No. 3 -- Whitewel