Men's Tennis Rolls 6-1 at Longwood

Friday, March 22

Farmville, Va.

2:30 PM

James Madison University

Longwood

3/23/2013 2:19:00 AM | Men's Tennis

FARMVILLE, Va., March 22, 2013 – James Madison men's tennis rolled to a 6-1 victory over Longwood on Friday afternoon to notch a third straight victory. The Dukes picked up the doubles point before claiming five of six singles points.

JMU improves to 5-6 this spring while the Lancers fall to 3-8.

Senior Ryan Pool (Melbourne, Australia/Braemar (Chattanooga)) and freshman Robert Stirling (Caboolture, Australia/St. Columbans College) quickly dropped Daniel Elston and Edward Becker 8-1 at the No. 1 position. The duo is now 4-5 this spring and has won two straight matches.

Seniors Bastien Russo (Lyon, France/Notre Dame des Minimes (Shorter)) and Greg Vladimirsky (Staten Island, N.Y./Broward Virtual) clinched the doubles point for the Dukes with an 8-5 defeat of Harry Kelleher and Bharani Sankar at the No. 3 position. The senior pair had not played together this spring, but went 4-2 during the fall tournament season.

Vladimirsky picked up a two-set singles win (6-2, 6-3) over Becker at the No. 3 position, snapping a two-match losing streak. He is now 2-0 at the No. 3 position this spring and 4-7 overall.

Pool and Stirling each battled for three-set victories in singles play. At the No. 1 position, Pool fell behind early after suffering a 7-6 loss in set one to Giorgi Khmiadashvili. The senior settled in for a 6-0 win in set two and came out on the winning side of a 7-6 set three to add a point to JMU's match total. Pool has won his last three matches and is 7-4 in single duals.

At the No. 4 position, Stirling jumped out to a 1-0 lead over Kelleher with a 6-4 victory in set one. After falling 7-5 in set two, Stirling snagged the 6-2 win in set three for the point and his third straight match win. He also bumped himself to an over-.500 record (6-5) this spring.

Senior Hugo Ramadier (Paris, France/Lycee Francais Chateaubriand (Northern Arizona)) gained his fourth win of the spring as he handled Elston 6-0, 6-2 at the No. 2 position. Freshman Maxi Branth (Stockholm, Sweden/Tullinge Gymnasium) rounded out the Dukes' points with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Justin Higgs at the No. 6 position.

Due to forecasted inclement weather, JMU's home match against UMBC on Sunday has been canceled. The Dukes next hit the courts March 27 at home against Binghamton. Doubles play begins at 2 p.m.

JMU 6, Longwood 1
Doubles
1. Pool/Stirling (JMU) def. Elston/Becker (LONG), 8-1
2. Khmiadashvili/Johnson (LONG) def. Ramadier/Sentenac (JMU), 8-7(5)
3. Bastien Russo/Vladimirsky (JMU) def. Kelleher/Sankar (LONG), 8-5
Singles
1. Ryan Pool (JMU) def. Giorgi Khmiadashvili (LONG) 6-7, 6-0, 7-6