JMU Grits Out 4-3 Win at Richmond

Friday, February 16

Midlothian, Va.

6 p.m.

James Madison University

Richmond

2/17/2018 12:36:00 AM | Men's Tennis

Box Score

MIDLOTHIAN, Va. – In front of an energetic crowd of over 200 fans, James Madison men's tennis gritted out the 4-3 victory over Richmond on Friday night.

With the team match tied at 3-all, junior Pierre Kohler opened his third-set battle with UR's James Aronson at the No. 5 singles position. The two battled back-and-forth to 5-5 before Aronson broke Kohler to take a 6-5 lead and served to win the match. Kohler maintained composure and fought back, pushing the set back to a tie at 6-6.

Trading points in the tiebreaker, Kohler finally pulled ahead 6-5 before playing a smart point won at the net, clinching the break at 7-5 as well as match point for the Dukes.

Kohler finished the day 2-0, adding the doubles-point clincher at the No. 2 position alongside freshman Àlvaro Arce.

QUOTING ASSISTANT COACH JASON SINKOFF
"All week in practice, we spent time playing pressure points and finishing points at the net. Last year, Richmond won 4-3 and we knew this match was going to be another close one. Four of the six singles matches went three sets, and we won three of them. The guys showed a lot of maturity in handling pressure points. Pierre had to play his entire third set with the match on the line – he won because he played very smart tennis and used the energy and support from all the great JMU fans and his teammates. This was a great team victory – go Dukes!"

UP NEXT
The Dukes are back at it on Saturday, Feb. 17 with a 2 p.m. home contest against Morgan State. The match follows the women's tennis' contest against the Bears at 9 a.m. at the East Campus Tennis Courts.