Dukes Fall to William & Mary in CAA Battle

Saturday, April 7

Williamsburg, Va.

11 a.m.

James Madison University

William & Mary

4/7/2018 2:48:00 PM | Women's Tennis

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – James Madison fell 5-2 at William & Mary in a hard-fought Colonial Athletic Association women's tennis match at the McCormack-Nagelsen Tennis Center on Saturday afternoon.

The loss was JMU's second of the dual season and their first in CAA play, as they fell to 17-2 overall and 3-1 in conference action. The Tribe improved to 12-8 and 1-0.

The Tribe quickly took the doubles point with 6-2 victories at No. 2 and No. 3 doubles to earn a 1-0 lead. At No. 1 doubles, the freshman duo of Liz Norman and Abby Amos earned their third consecutive victory with a 7-6(4) win over William & Mary's Clara Taniellan and Vitoria Okuyama.

In singles, the Tribe continued their strong start following Ekaterina Stepanova's 6-4, 6-2 win over senior Kimmy Herrock at No. 5 singles to increase their lead to 2-0.

Down 2-0, the Dukes used a dominating 7-6, 6-1 victory from freshman Anna Makarova at No. 2 to earn their first point of the afternoon. Following Makarova, sophomore Jona Roka battled past W&M's Natalia Perry 7-6, 7-5 to even the score at 2-2.

With the contest knotted up, W&M's Lauren Goodman needed three sets to push past junior Emma Petersen 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 at No. 4, helping the Tribe regain the lead, at 3-2.

William & Mary clinched match point at No. 6 singles with a 6-7, 6-4, 6-2 victory from Olivia Thaler over sophomore Diane Flament.

RESULTS
Doubles (2, 3*, 1)

Amos/Norman def. Tanielian/Okuyama 7-6(4)
Perry/Goodman def. Makarova/Petersen 6-2
Cheng/Thaler def. Roka/Owens 6-2

Singles (5, 2, 3, 4, 6*, 1)

Rosie Cheng def. Liz Norman 7-6, 3-6, 7-5
Anna Makarova def. Clara Tanielian 7-6, 6-1
Jona Roka def. Natalia Perry 7-6, 7-5
Lauren Goodman def. Emma Petersen 3-6, 6-3, 6-4
Ekaterina Stepanova def. Kimmy Herrock 6-4, 6-2
Olivia Thaler def. Diane Flament 6-7, 6-4, 6-2

QUOTING HEAD COACH JAMES BRYCE
"Overall, I am proud of our effort, however we let a good team slip by us today. The goal of the day was to execute in critical moments and that was our downfall. You have to give credit to William & Mary who are always tough and compete at a high level. We need to learn from this loss and be ready for another battle against VCU on Tuesday."

UP NEXT
The Dukes resume action this Tuesday, April 10 for an in-state clash with VCU at the Hillside Courts.