Dukes Dominate GW, Move to 15-1

Sunday, March 25

Harrisonburg, Va.

1 p.m.

James Madison University

George Washington

3/25/2018 6:24:00 PM | Women's Tennis

Box Score Box Score

HARRISONBURG, Va. – James Madison women's tennis cruised through doubles and won four of its six singles matches in straight sets en route to a 7-0 victory against George Washington on Sunday afternoon at East Campus Tennis Courts.

The Dukes improved to 15-1 on the year, including an unblemished 5-0 mark at home, while the Colonials evened its record to 7-7.

JMU used a pair of 6-3 victories from senior Dylan Owens and sophomore Jona Roka at No. 3 doubles and freshman Anna Makarova and junior Emma Petersen at No. 2 to give them the early 1-0 lead. The victories moved Owens and Roka to 9-1 on the dual season and pushed Petersen and Makarova to 8-2 as a duo.

The Dukes swept doubles competition in come-from-behind fashion, as senior Kimmy Herrock and freshman Liz Norman staved off a pair of match points, before claiming a 7-6(3) victory at the No. 1 position.

In singles, Norman cruised to a 6-0, 7-5 victory versus Melis Bayraktaroglu at No. 1 singles, as she remained unbeaten in dual-match play, at 15-0. She is a combined 23-2 in singles matches this academic year.

Following Norman, Roka battled to a 7-6(1) win in the first set, then cruised to a 6-1 victory in the second set over GW's Sara Grubac to increase the JMU lead to 3-0.

With the Dukes in control, Makarova clinched match point over Marie-Louise Decamps in three set fashion (6-1, 3-6, 6-3) at the No. 3 position.

After JMU clinched the team victory, Petersen fought back from a set down to win the second set 6-4 and the third set super tie-breaker 11-9 against Diana Kussainova to bring JMU to a 5-0 advantage.

JMU closed the match with victories from sophomore Diane Flament at No. 5 singles (6-4, 6-1) and Herrock at No. 6 singles (7-5, 6-2) to complete a 7-0 sweep over the Colonials.

QUOTING HEAD COACH JAMES BRYCE
"It was a good team win today. I thought our energy was fantastic in doubles and we took the momentum into singles right away. When you're only playing on three courts and you're able to clinch all three doubles and then 1, 2, 3 singles it really allowed us to relax and have some fun on the court. GW is a team that always fights hard, and our girls did a great job of staying focused and taking care of business."

PHOTO OF THE DAY View Full Gallery Here
91385