WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – James Madison won the 2021 Colonial Athletic Association Women's Tennis Championship with a 4-2 victory against host William & Mary on Sunday afternoon at the Millie West Tennis Center.
The Dukes completed the title defense, capturing their second consecutive CAA championship, as well as the second in program history. The Dukes improved to 14-3 with the victory and await their selection to the NCAA Women's Tennis Championship.
JMU's path to the conference crown came by way of a pair of doubles wins and three singles triumphs.
Doubles play began with a record-tying performance on court two. Redshirt senior Jona Roka and redshirt sophomore Kylie Moulin beat out Mila Saric and Alisia Manolescu, 6-1, to give the Dukes an advantage. It was Roka's 83rd doubles win, tying the JMU doubles wins mark with Taylor Pinchoff (2011-15).
After W&M captured a win on court one, the doubles point was decided on court three, where redshirt sophomores Natalia Nikolopoulou and Amanda Nord clinched the 1-0 lead with a 6-2 victory against Elisa Van Meeteren and Raffaela Alhach, 6-2.
In singles play, the Tribe tied things up at 1-1 with straight-set win on court four. JMU regained the lead, at 2-1 on court three, as Nikolopoulou took down Van Meeteren, 6-2, 6-1.
Redshirt sophomore Daniela Voloh finished soon after with a victory of her own on court six. Her 6-1, 6-3 defeat over Manolescu on gave JMU a 3-1 advantage in the match. The Tribe inched closer, making it a 3-2 score with a win on court one.
The championship point came on court five by way of redshirt senior Alexis Franco. After a strong first set, she engineered a comeback in set two. After falling behind, 5-4, Franco put together a streak of three straight games to win the set and match, 6-2, 7-5.
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The Dukes secured the CAA's automatic bid to the 2021 NCAA Women's Tennis Championship. The NCAA Selection Show takes place on Monday, May 3 at 6 p.m. on NCAA.com.