Dukes Drop Heartbreaker at Louisville

Sunday, February 5

Louisville, Ky.

11 a.m.

James Madison University

Louisville

2/5/2023 4:02:00 PM | Women's Tennis

Box Score

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Battling wire-to-wire, James Madison women's tennis dropped a tough 4-3 decision at Louisville on Sunday afternoon at the Bass-Rudd Tennis Center.

The Cardinals improved to 4-2 on the year, while the Dukes fell to 3-2.

Louisville grabbed two of three doubles matches and the teams each claimed three singles victories to give the hosts the win.

For JMU, it was led by Daria Afanasyeva, who won both matches. She, along with Daria Munteanu and Ines Oliveira, also won their respective singles bouts.

How It Happened
Doubles

Louisville took the early 1-0 lead with doubles wins on courts one and two, while JMU took court three.
UL's Rhea Verma and Andrea Di Palma gave the hosts the advantage with a 6-2 win on court one against Kylie Moulin and Oliveira.
JMU evened things up on court three, as Afanasyeva and Reka Matko downed Sasha Gorchanyuk and Maria Campos, 6-4.
The Cardinals clinched the doubles point on court two when Cici Xin and Jamilah Snells defeated Munteanu and Daniela Voloh.

Singles

JMU tied the match at 1-1 with a dominant court-five singles win. Munteanu, who clinched JMU's win Friday at Ball State, made quick work of Campos, earning a 6-2, 6-2 victory.
The Cardinals regained the lead with back-to-back wins on courts one and six. Di Palma outlasted Moulin, 6-4, 6-4, while Tyra Richardson battled past Matko, 7-5, 6-2.
JMU stayed in the fight, as Afanasyeva held off Snells in straight sets, at 6-4, 6-4, on court two.
The Dukes squared the match at 3-3 on court three, as Oliveira took down Verma, 7-5, 6-3.
The match would be decided on court four, and both sets would finish by way of tiebreak. The Cardinals secured the victory, as Xin fended off Voloh, 7-6 (3), 7-6 (5). Voloh held a 5-3 lead in the second set before Xin rallied to force the final breaker.

Up Next
JMU is off next weekend and returns to action on Sunday, Feb. 19 when it travels to Cincinnati, Ohio to face Xavier. The opening serve is set for a 1 p.m. start.