Dukes Sweep Radford 7-0 in Home Opener

Friday, March 25

Harrisonburg, Va.

2:30 p.m.

James Madison University

Radford

3/25/2016 5:29:00 PM | Women's Tennis

HARRISONBURG, Va. – James Madison women's tennis rolled to a 7-0 sweep of Radford in the Dukes' home opener on Friday afternoon, stretching their win streak to three matches.

JMU (11-4, 3-0 CAA) won the doubles point over Radford (1-11, 1-6 Big South) with a 2-0 showing at Nos. 2 and 3 before securing four consecutive singles victories in two-set fashion as the team clinched the match.

Freshmen Emma Petersen and Bella Heidenreich got the day rolling for JMU with a 6-2 win at No. 2 doubles over Tarrannum Handa and Meili Martin after jumping out to the 4-0 lead. Juniors Rebecca Harris and Emily Bradshaw quickly followed with a 6-4 win at No. 3 doubles over Taylor Fay and Claire Nguyen to clinch the opening point as the Dukes never trailed the Highlanders.

The Dukes rolled into singles action as Harris picked up the 6-2, 6-1 win over Fay at the No. 5 position and moved to 10-2 this spring. Junior Rachel Nelson was just behind her for the 6-1, 6-2 No. 1 singles win over Natalie Sayer, pushing JMU to a 3-0 lead. Nelson is now 4-1 playing in the top position.

Sophomore Dylan Owens clinched match point with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Grace Sarver at No. 4 singles, pushing her win streak to 12 matches, including a 7-0 dual mark. Hot on her heels was Petersen, who defeated Martin 6-2, 6-0 at No. 4 singles for her 10^th dual win this season.

Heidenreich came back from a 6-3 loss to Karlie Pope in set one of No. 6 singles to tie the match with a 6-2 set-two victory, then won the tiebreak 10-4 for the sixth JMU point of the afternoon.

Junior Timea Guibe completed the sweep at No. 2 singles with a two-set win over Handa. She overcame a 0-3 deficit in set one for a 6-4 victory before overcoming a 0-4 deficit in set two for the extended 7-5 win.

JMU returns to Hillside Courts on Saturday, March 26 for the second of five straight matches at home. The Dukes take on George Washington at 2 p.m. for their second of three matches over a four-day span.

PHOTO OF THE DAY
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FULL RESULTS
Doubles (2,1*)

Guibe/Kimmy Herrock vs. Sayer/Sarver 5-3, unf.
Petersen/Heidenreich def. Handa/Martin 6-2
Harris/Emily Bradshaw def. Fay/Nguyen 6-4

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

Rachel Nelson def. Natalie Sayer 6-1, 6-2
Timea Guibe def. Tarrannum Handa 6-4, 7-5
Emma Petersen def. Meili Martin 6-2, 6-0
Dylan Owens def. Grace Sarver 6-2, 6-1
Rebecca Harris def. Taylor Fay 6-2, 6-1
Bella Heidenreich def. Karlie Pope 3-6, 6-2, 10-4

TWEET OF THE DAY

Sweep complete! Timea Guibe with the hard-fought two-set win at No.2 singles completes JMu's 7-0 home-opening victory over Radford! #GoDukes
— JMU Women's Tennis (@JMUWTennis) March 25, 2016

POSTGAME

UP NEXT
JMU is back at Hillside Courts tomorrow for a 2 p.m. match against George Washington. It is the second match of a men's-women's doubleheader.