JMU Falls in 5-2 Setback at Liberty

Saturday, February 14

Lynchburg, Va.

1 p.m.

James Madison University

Liberty

2/14/2015 5:40:00 PM | Women's Tennis

LYNCHBURG, Va. – James Madison women's tennis fell in a 5-2 setback at Liberty Saturday afternoon, snapping the Dukes' two-match win streak.

JMU (4-2, 1-0 CAA) earned the doubles point over Liberty (7-1, 0-0 Big South) before the Flames picked up five of six available singles points for the victory.

"Overall, Liberty was the better team in singles today," Head Coach James Bryce said. "I thought our doubles play was the best point we have won all year. Taylor also did a fantastic job battling through a tough singles match, and I'm very happy she was able to persevere. The rest of the team fought hard, but I give credit to Liberty's depth, which was the deciding factor today. We will look to rebound at Davidson in 12 days."

The Flames took a 1-0 lead in doubles action with a 6-1 win by Maria Khval and Brittany Yang at the No. 1 position, the first loss of the season for sophomore Rachel Nelson and senior Taylor Pinchoff. The Dukes, however, tied up the competition for the doubles point when sophomores Alex Huie and Emily Bradshaw cruised to a 6-1 win over Belen Rivera and Mariely Hassey at the No. 3 position.

Senior Sarah Khan and freshman Kimmy Herrock secured the doubles point and a 1-0 lead for JMU with a 6-4 win over Valerie Thong and Evangeline Crist at the No. 2 position.

Heading into singles competition, Liberty quickly tied the match at 1-all when Rivera defeated Nelson 6-3, 6-2 at No. 1 singles. Nelson's first loss of the dual campaign snapped a five-match win-streak for the sophomore.

Liberty took its first lead of the day when Khval took down Khan down in two sets (6-2, 6-3) at No. 3 singles. The Flames then pushed to a 3-1 advantage when sophomore Rebecca Harris fell in a hard-fought, three-set match (7-5, 5-7, 6-0) to Yang at No. 4 singles.

Pinchoff pulled the Dukes back within one point (3-2) when she battled for a three-set victory over Hassey at No. 2 singles. Pinchoff took set one 7-5 before Hassey returned with a 7-6(8-6) tiebreaker win set two. Pinchoff earned the point for JMU with a 6-4 victory in decisive set three.

Match point for the Flames came at No. 6 singles as Crist picked up a 6-2, 6-1 win over Herrock.

In her first match of the spring, Huie came up just short at No. 5 singles, falling in three sets (3-6, 6-0, 10-3) to Emily Groeneveld for the final Liberty point of the afternoon.

JMU has a nearly two-week break from competition before heading to North Carolina for a pair of matches February 26-27. The Dukes begin at Davidson on February 26 at 3 p.m. and finish at NC State on February 27 at 5 p.m.

Liberty 5, JMU 2
Singles
1. Belen Rivera (LIBERTY) def. Rachel Nelson (JMU) 6-3, 6-2
2. Taylor Pinchoff (JMU) def. Mariely Hassey (LIBERTY) 7-5, 6-7 (6-8), 6-4
3. Maria Khval (LIBERTY) def. Sarah Khan (JMU) 6-2, 6-3
4. Brittany Yang (LIBERTY) def. Rebecca Harris (JMU) 7-5, 5-7, 6-0
5. Emily Groeneveld (LIBERTY) def. Alex Huie (JMU) 3-6, 6-0, 10-3
6. Evangeline Crist (LIBERTY) def. Kimmy Herrock (JMU) 6-2, 6-1
Order of Finish: 1, 3, 4, 2, 6*, 5
Doubles
1. Khval/Yang (LIBERTY) def. Nelson/Pinchoff (JMU) 6-1
2. Khan/Herrock (JMU) def. Thong/Crist (LIBERTY) 6-4
3. Huie/Bradshaw (JMU) def. Rivera/Hassey (LIBERTY) 6-1
Order of Finish: 1, 3, 2*