CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – James Madison kicked off its first appearance at ITA Kickoff Weekend with a tough battle against #9 Virginia, falling 4-0 in the opening round on Friday afternoon at the Boar's Head Resort.
The Cavaliers improve to 4-0 and advance to the second round, while the Dukes fall to 1-1 and will play in the consolation match on Saturday.
Virginia took the early lead after capturing doubles wins on courts two and three.
The team of Sofia Munera and Hibah Shaikh gave the Cavaliers the advantage with a 6-1 win at No. 3 doubles over
Natalia Nikolopoulou and
Amanda Nord. The hosts clinched the doubles point at No. 2, as Elaine Chervinsky and Natasha Subhash downed
Daria Afanasyeva and
Kylie Moulin by the score of 6-2.
On court one, the tandem of
Michelle Los Arcos and
Daniela Voloh kept it close with Virginia's top doubles team, taking a 3-2 lead against Emma Navarro and Amber O'Dell. The match went unfinished, at 3-5, once U.Va. had secured the doubles point.
In singles play, the Cavaliers grabbed a 2-0 lead with a win on court four, as Munera took a 6-1, 6-2 decision from Nord. The lead was stretched to 3-0 after Sara Ziodato defeated
Hope Moulin, 6-3, 6-1 on court five. Virginia won the match on court two, as Chervinsky beat Nikolopoulou, 6-0, 6-3.
Three matches went unfinished, highlighted by Afanasyeva battling the defending national champion, Navarro, on court one. At the time of the match's completion, Navarro led 6-3, 5-3, though Afanasyeva held leads in both sets, including 3-2 in the second.
Voloh also kept it tight with Shaikh, which ended at 3-6, 1-2 on court six. The other singles match on court three between
Kylie Moulin and Subhash was also halted at 2-6, 2-5.
UP NEXT
JMU will face Arkansas tomorrow in the consolation match at the ITA Kickoff Weekend in Charlottesville. The opening serve is set for 6:30 p.m. at the Boar's Head Resort.