Dukes Drop Season Opener at #11 Duke

Saturday, January 11

Durham, N.C.

1 p.m.

James Madison University

Duke

1/11/2025 4:13:00 PM | Women's Tennis

Box Score

DURHAM, N.C. – James Madison forced a pair of super tiebreakers in singles play, but #11 Duke proved too much, defeating the Dukes, 6-1, in the season opener on Saturday at the Sheffield Indoor Tennis Center.

The Blue Devils (1-0) swept doubles play, conceding just three total games, and won five of six singles bouts, including four in straight sets to capture the team victory.

JMU (0-1) had success on both courts one and five, taking set leads in both of those matches before claiming the final point of the day of the latter match.

Sophie Williams produced JMU's first victory of the spring on court five over Katie Codd. Williams would take the opening set (6-4) before dropping the second frame by the same score, setting up a super tiebreaker. She led Codd 8-5 before the Blue Devil reeled off five straight points to claim a 9-8 lead and force match point.

Facing the decisive point while on serve, Williams staved off the point, knotting the breaker at 9-9. That momentum led her to winning three straight points, which included the breaking Codd's serve for the match-clinching point to take it by scores of 6-4, 4-6, 1-0 (11-9).

Elena Kraleva took #25 Emma Jackson to the limit on court one before falling in a heartbreaker. She took the opening frame, but Jackson evened the match with a solid win in the second set. In the super tiebreaker, Kraleva took four straight points to lead the bout, 8-5. Jackson answered with five in a row to earn the 4-6, 6-2, 1-0 (10-8) triumph.

JMU is back in action on Sunday, Jan. 12 as it stays in the Triangle to face #6 North Carolina in Chapel Hill. Opening serve from the Chewning Tennis Center is set for an 11 a.m. start.

#11 Duke 6, JMU 1
Doubles Results
Court 1: #10 Irina Balus/Ellie Coleman (Duke) def. Ines Oliveira/Sophie Williams (JMU), 6-2
Court 2: Emma Jackson/Shavit Kimchi (Duke) def. Elena Kraleva/Mia Saveljic (JMU), 6-0
Court 3: Ava Krug/Eleana Yu (Duke) def. Hope Moulin, Daria Munteanu (JMU), 6-1

Singles Results
Court 1: #25 Emma Jackson (Duke) def. Elena Kraleva (JMU), 4-6, 6-2, 1-0 (10-8)
Court 2: #36 Irina Balus (Duke) def. Daria Munteanu (JMU), 6-2, 6-4
Court 3: #49 Shavit Kimchi (Duke) def. Ines Oliveira (JMU), 6-1, 6-2
Court 4: Ellie Coleman (Duke) def. Mia Saveljic (JMU), 6-1, 6-2
Court 5: Sophie Williams (JMU) def. Katie Codd (Duke), 6-4, 4-6, 1-0 (11-9)
Court 6: Ava Krug (Duke) def. Hope Moulin (JMU), 6-2, 6-2