JMU MEN'S TENNIS SWEEPS ST. FRANCIS (PA.) 7-0

Saturday, March 5

Home (Hillside Courts)

10:30 a.m.

James Madison University

St. Francis (Pa.)

3/5/2011 10:52:00 PM | Men's Tennis

HARRISONBURG, Va., March 5, 2011 - The James Madison (4-3) men's tennis team opened its home slate on Saturday with a 7-0 sweep of visiting St. Francis (Pa.) (2-8) at Hillside Courts.

The Dukes won all three doubles matches to claim the doubles point and took all six singles matches without dropping a set.

In doubles play, the team of sophomore Florent Sentenac (Borderes, France/Lycee Theophile Gautier (Auburn Montgomery)) and senior Yaroslav Voznenko (Kherson, Ukraine/Kherson Technical) defeated Youlian Natchev and Kirby Mendes, 8-5 at No. 3 doubles.

JMU clinched the doubles point with a win at No. 2 by sophomores Ryan Pool (Melbourne, Australia/Braemar (UT-Chattanooga) and Greg Vladimirsky (Coral Springs, Fla./Broward Virtual), as they took an 8-4 win from Andres Rosa and Stephen Kowalski.

The Dukes swept doubles with an 8-6 victory by senior Matt King (Lorton, Va./Robinson (Old Dominion)) and junior Bertrand Moulin (Lyon, France/Aux Lazaristes Minimes (Wayne State) over Elahn Pogue and Nathaniel Fleming at No. 1.

JMU went up 2-0 quickly into singles, after Vladimirsky won against Pogue 2-1, retire at No. 1 singles after the top player from the Red Flash could not continue due to injury. At No. 5, junior Tommi Nissinen (Oulu, Finland/Kastellin Lukio) rolled to a 6-0, 6-1 win against Natchev to give the Dukes a 3-0 advantage.

JMU clinched the match when junior Jovan Milic (Belgrade, Serbia/Belgrade Sports School) took down Mendes 6-1, 6-2 at No. 6. Pool blanked Rosa 6-0, 6-0 at No. 4 singles to put JMU ahead 5-0.

Moulin won at No. 2, taking a 6-4, 6-1 win against Fleming and Sentenac finished out the match with a tough 7-5, 6-4 victory at No. 3 against Kowalski.

JMU travels to the state of South Carolina next week for five matches in either Charleston or Conway. The first three matches take place at the Citadel and the final two at Coastal Carolina.

On March 8, the Dukes will battle St. John's at 9 a.m. and Division III's Case Western Reserve at 2 p.m. The following day, JMU takes on The Citadel at 2 p.m. On March 10, the Dukes will hit the court with East Carolina at 10 a.m. and they will wrap up the week with a match against the Chanticleers on March 12 at noon.

JMU 7, St. Francis (Pa.) 0
Singles
1. Vladimirsky (JMU) def. Pogue (SFU) 2-1 retired (injury)
2. Moulin (JMU) def. Fleming (SFU) 6-4, 6-1
3. Sentenac (JMU) def. Kowalski (SFU) 7-5, 6-4
4. Pool (JMU) def. Andres Rosa (SFU) 6-0, 6-0
5. Nissinen (JMU) def. Natchev (SFU) 6-0, 6-1
6. Milic (JMU) def. Mendes (SFU) 6-1, 6-2

Doubles
1. King/Moulin (JMU) def. Pogue/Fleming (SFU) 8-6
2. Pool/Vladimirsky (JMU) def. Rosa/Kowalski (SFU) 8-4
3. Sentenac/Voznenko (JMU) def. Natchev/Mendes (SFU) 8-5

Order of finish: Doubles (3,2,1); Singles (1,5,6,4,2,3)