Women's Tennis Even at 1-1 After Opening Weekend

WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.Va., January 30, 2012 - The James Madison women's tennis team split a pair of matches this opening weekend. The Dukes fell 6-1 to Georgetown on Saturday, Jan. 28, and defeated Appalachian State 5-2 on Sunday, Jan. 29, to start the season 1-1.

In the opening match versus Georgetown, the doubles team of juniors Katherine Bulling (Loveland, Ohio/Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy) and Michelle Nguyen (Springfield, Va./South County) fell to Victoria Sekely and Tina Tehrani, 8-2. Sophomores Jacqueline Palmucci (Aurora, Colo./Cherokee Trail) and Ruxandra Andriescu (Brampton, Ontario, Canada/Turner Fenton) paired up to earn an 8-4 win over the Hoyas' Sophie Panarese and Madeline Jaeger. With the first two doubles matches split, Georgetown grabbed the doubles point when Lauren Greco and Kelly Comolli defeated JMU's Kinsey Pate (Matthews, N.C./Butler) and Taylor Pinchoff (Sylvan Lake, Mich./West Bloomfield), 8-6.

Comolli gave Georgetown a 2-0 team advantage, defeating Nguyen in straight sets, 6-2, 6-1. The Dukes also dropped the overall match when Georgetown's Jaeger defeated Bulling, 6-0, 6-2 and Tina Tehrani defeated Palmucci, 6-1, 6-1. Junior Megan Douglass (Wilton, Conn./St. Luke's) earned the Dukes' only point of the match, defeating Victoria Sekely in straight sets, 6-3, 6-1. With the match score now at 4-1 Georgetown, Pate split the first two sets with the Hoyas' Lauren Greco before dropping the decisive third set and losing, 6-1, 4-6, 6-3. In the final pairing of the match, Andriescu fought hard with Georgetown's Panarese but ultimately succumbed 6-2, 6-1 to give the Hoyas a 6-1 team victory.

In the second match of the season, the Dukes earned a 5-2 victory over Appalachian State. The Mountaineers looked to have an early advantage in doubles play when Jennifer Ansari and Ellie Linsell defeated the Dukes' No.1 doubles team of Pate and Pinchoff, 8-2. JMU countered when Nguyen and Bulling defeated the Mountaineers' Blakeley Bean and Gisela Fernandez, 8-1, and Douglass and Palmucci defeated Gabby Gabriel and Gabriela Celi, 8-4, to earn the doubles point for JMU.

Singles competition began with the Dukes dropping two, three-set matches when Linsell defeated Pate, 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 (8-6), and Ansari defeated Palmucci, 0-6, 6-4, 6-4 to give the Mountaineers an early 2-1 team lead. Trailing, JMU's Nguyen took down Thaggard in straight sets, 6-2, 6-4, to knot things up at two. Douglass then took an early one-set lead on Gabriela Celi before Celi fought back to win the second and force the deciding third set. Douglass then took over, defeating Celi in the third set to win, 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 and put the Dukes on top 3-2. In the next match, Bulling defeated Gabriel 6-2, 6-3, giving JMU a 4-2 lead to ensure a team win. In the final match, Andriescu handled ASU's Kim-Lea Dinh, 6-2, 6-2, to give the Dukes the 5-2 victory.

The Dukes head back to act