Dukes Drop Marathon Match with App State, 4-3, in Sun Belt Tourney

Thursday, April 25

Rome, Ga.

2 p.m.

James Madison University

App State

Dukes Drop Marathon Match with App State, 4-3, in Sun Belt Tourney

4/25/2024 7:03:00 PM | Women's Tennis

Box Score

ROME, Ga. – No. 10 James Madison claimed three singles courts in straight sets, but No. 7 App State rallied for the doubles point and won two of its three singles bouts in three sets to earn a 4-3 win against the Dukes Thursday afternoon in the second round of the Sun Belt Conference Women's Tennis Championship at the Rome Tennis Center.

The Mountaineers improved to 13-9 on the year and advance to Friday's SBC quarterfinals against No. 2 Marshall, while the Dukes saw their season ended at 8-13.

In the sixth all-time meeting between the teams, this was App's first victory against JMU and avenged a 5-2 setback to the Dukes back in March.

JMU produced singles victories from senior Cate Broerman and juniors Hope Moulin and Alexandra Prudente while the doubles squad of Daria Munteanu and Ines Oliveira claimed the top doubles court.

App State fended off a match point on court two doubles while trailing 5-3 and rallied to win the doubles point with a 7-1 tiebreak victory. After JMU took a 3-2 lead, the Mountaineers tied it on court five with a come-from-behind win by Naledi Manyube and earned the clinching point in a three-set triumph by Taya Powell on court two.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Doubles Play

JMU gained the early doubles advantage with a solid win on court one, as Munteanu and Oliveira fended off Savannah Dada-Mascoll and Ellie Murphy, 6-3. It was a tight 4-3 match before the JMU duo broke App's serve and served out the win.
App evened things up on court three, as Manyube and Maggie Pate overcame a 3-2 deficit, reeling off four straight games to down Reka Matko and Moulin.
JMU came within a point of clinching doubles over on court two, leading 5-3 on deuce point, but Powell and Olwyn Ryan-Bovey staved off the match point and forced a tiebreaker where the App duo would down Broerman and Prudente, 7-6 (1).

Singles Play

JMU took opening sets on courts three through six while App held strong on the top-two courts.
JMU squared the bout at 1-1 on court four, as Moulin overcame a pair of love-40 games in the second set to run away with a 6-2, 6-1 victory against Pate.
Shortly after, in a battle of All-Sun Belt singles competitors, Dada-Mascoll held off Munteanu, pulling away on court one for. 6-3, 6-3 victory.
The match was once again tied, this time at 2-2, as Broerman closed her collegiate career with a dominant win on court three, defeating Ryan-Bovey, 6-1, 6-3.
Prudente gave JMU its first lead of the afternoon over on court six, as she dug deep to grind out a 6-3, 6-4 win over Murphy, registering her first career postseason victory in the process.
After falling behind a set, App's Manyube pulled away in the second set and used the momentum down the stretch to upend Matko, 3-6, 6-3, 6-1, tying the chess match at three apiece.
In the final bout on court two, Oliveira dropped a 6-0 set in the first before battling back to win the second set tight. Falling behind 5-1 in the third, Oliveira staved off four match points before Powell finished the job for the Mountaineers with a 6-0, 4-6, 6-3 triumph.