JMU Bounces Norfolk State 6-1, Hampton 7-0 in Doubleheader

Saturday, February 27

Norfolk, Va.

3 p.m.

James Madison University

Norfolk State

JMU Bounces Norfolk State 6-1, Hampton 7-0 in Doubleheader

2/27/2016 11:26:00 PM | Women's Tennis

NORFOLK, Va. – Three Dukes went 4-0 on Saturday afternoon as James Madison women's tennis swept a doubleheader, bouncing Norfolk State 6-1 before blanking Hampton 7-0.

Junior Rachel Nelson, sophomore Kimmy Herrock and junior Rebecca Harris each posted 4-0 records on the day, going 2-0 in both singles and doubles action. Junior Timea Guibe and freshman Emma Petersen each earned three wins Saturday while junior Emily Bradshaw and freshman Abby Amos each posted two and sophomore Dylan Owens had one.

In singles, Nelson won both matches in two sets to take her dual record back above .500 (5-4). She took down Norfolk State's Marta Gomar 6-1, 7-6(5) at the No. 2 position before moving up to the No. 1 spot against Hampton and defeating Mariam Mitaishvili 6-2, 6-4. In doubles, she teamed with Petersen for the 6-1 win over NSU's Gomar and Liza Gordeeva at No. 3 and paired with Guibe for the 6-2 victory over HU's Mitaishvili and Mikaela Pierce at No. 1.

Harris won both of her No. 5 singles matches in two sets as well, dispatching Ana Popovic (NSU) 6-3, 6-0 and Anastasiia Romanova (HU) 6-1, 6-3, to push her spring record to 6-1 overall. She partnered with Amos for the 6-2 No. 1 doubles win over the Spartans' Popovic and Dajana Cvjetkovic, then joined with Petersen for the 6-3 No. 2 doubles win against the Lady Pirates' Julia d'Auvergne and Cherise Slocombe.

Herrock's 2-0 doubles record came alongside Guibe and Bradshaw with a 6-1 win against Norfolk State's No. 2 doubles team and a 6-0 defeat of Hampton's No. 3 duo, respectively. She won her first No. 3 singles match of the day in straight 6-3 sets at the No. 3 position against NSU's Gordeeva before battling to a three-set win (6-2, 3-6, 6-0) over HU's Pierce. Her spring record for solo matches is now a team-best 7-1.

Joining her in three-set singles victories were Guibe and Amos. Guibe went the distance for a three-set tiebreak win (7-6(3), 4-6, 10-7) over Cvjetkovic (NSU) at No. 1 singles, and Amos battled Slocombe (HU) to a 6-1, 6-7(5), 6-2 victory at No. 2 singles.

In her lone match of the day, Owens stretched her win streak to eight matches with a 6-4, 6-1 win at No. 6 singles against Norfolk State's Mafalda Lhorca.

As a team, JMU upped its record to 6-3 (1-0 CAA) while Norfolk State fell to 1-4 and Hampton dropped to 0-2 this dual season.

The Dukes are back on the courts Wednesday, March 9, when they face Charlotte at noon in Orlando, Fla.

QUOTING HEAD COACH JAMES BRYCE
"Today was a good day for us to get back on track. We had to stay focused on one match at a time with playing a doubleheader. We won all of our three-set matches, which was a positive after last weekend's losses. Both Norfolk State and Hampton tested us to play to our level, and I'm happy with the team's response."

FULL RESULTS – 6-1 over NORFOLK STATE (1-4)
Doubles (2, 3*, 1)

Abby Amos/Harris def. Cvjetkovic/Popovic 6-2
Guibe/Herrock def. Macchiavello/Lhorca 6-1
Nelson/Petersen def. Gordeeva/Gomar 6-1

Singles (5, 3, 6*, 2, 4, 1)

Timea Guibe def. Dajana Cvjetkovic 7-6(3), 4-6, 10-7
Rachel Nelson def. Marta Gomar 6-1, 7-6(5)
Kimmy Herrock def. Liza Gordeeva 6-3, 6-3
Andrea Macchiavello def. Emma Petersen 7-5, 6-1
Rebecca Harris def. Ana Popovic 6-3, 6-0
Dylan Owens def. Mafalda Lhorca 6-4, 6-1

FULL RESULTS – 7-0 over HAMPTON (0-2)
Doubles (3, 2*, 1)

Guibe/Nelson def. Mitaishvili/Pierce 6-2
Harris/Petersen def. d'Auvergne/Slocombe 6-3
Herrock/Bradshaw def. Charles/Romanova 6-0

Singles (4, 1, 3*, 2, 5, 6)

Rachel Nelson def. Mariam Mitaishvili 6-2, 6-4
Abby Amos def. Cherise Slocombe 6-1, 6-7(5), 6-2
Kimmy Herrock def. Mikaela Pierce 6-2, 3-6, 6-0
Emma Petersen def. Julia d'Auvergne 6-0, 6-3
Rebecca Harris def. Anastasiia Romanova 6-1, 6-3
Emily Bradshaw def. Daneya Charles 6-2, 6-2

UP NEXT
JMU has a brief break in the schedule before heading down to Orlando, Fla., for spring break competition. The Dukes will take on Charlotte on March 9 (noon), South Dakota State on March 10 (10:30 a.m.) and Ball State on March 11 (2 p.m.).