Men's Tennis Shuts Out Drexel in CAA Quarterfinals

Friday, April 18

Williamsburg, Va.

Noon

James Madison University

Drexel

4/18/2014 8:04:00 PM | Men's Tennis

WILLIAMSBURG, Va., April 18, 2014 – The fourth-seeded James Madison men's tennis team cruised to a 4-0 win over fifth-seeded Drexel on Friday in the quarterfinals of the Colonial Athletic Association Championship Tournament, hosted by William & Mary.

The Dukes took two of three matches to earn the doubles point and won three-straight singles matches to clinch the team win, improving to 9-11 overall. They advance to play top-seeded UNCW in the semifinals. The Dragons finish the season at 9-9 following their second loss of the year to the Dukes.

With a split in the first two doubles matches, the point came down to the top spot. Fresh off receiving second team All-CAA honors as a tandem, sophomore Robert Stirling (Caboolture, Australia/St. Columbans College) and freshman Miljan Ruzic (Sydney, Australia/St. Euphemia College) won in thrilling fashion, edging Xabier Saavedra and Alex Fiorovante 8-7 with a 7-5 advantage in the tiebreaker. Stirling and Ruzic improved their team-best record to 13-11, including an 8-8 mark in the spring.

Freshmen Sebastian Salinas (Merida, Mexico/Preparatoria Abierta SEP) and Brett Moorhead (Midlothian, Va./Cosby) notched the other doubles win for the Dukes. They bested Badr Ouabdelmoumen and Dan Hansen 8-3.

Stirling, a first team All-CAA selection, also won at No. 1 singles, taking down Ouabdelmoumen, a second team honoree, 6-4, 6-1. It was Stirling's second win of the season against the Drexel opponent, improving his spring record to 8-12.

Salinas and freshman Maxi Branth (Stockholm, Sweden/Tullinge Gymnasium) followed Stirling with wins at No. 2 and No. 3 singles, respectively, to clinch the win for the Dukes. Salinas topped Skyler Davis, 6-3, 6-3 to improve to 10-10 during the spring, while Branth upped his team-best overall record to 17-16 with a 6-1, 6-1 win over Saavedra.

JMU's match with UNCW is scheduled for 10 a.m. on Saturday. The two teams did not meet during the regular season. The Seahawks finished the regular season at 13-6 and are the defending conference champions.

#4 James Madison 4, #5 Drexel 0

Singles

#1 Rob Stirling (JMU) d. Badr Ouabdelmoumen (DU), 6-4, 6-1

#2 Sebastian Salinas (JMU) d. Skyler Davis (DU), 6-3, 6-3

#3 Maxi Branth (JMU) d. Xabier Saavedra (DU), 6-1, 6-1

#4 Brett Moorhead (JMU) vs. Alex Fiorovante (DU) – DNF, 6-3, 2-4

#5 Miljan Ruzic (JMU) vs. Dan Koehler (DU) – DNF, 6-2, 2-2