Dukes Down College of Charleston, Open CAA Play 1-0

Tuesday, March 5

Charleston, SC

3 p.m.

James Madison University

College of Charleston

3/5/2019 9:00:00 PM | Men's Tennis

Box Score

CHARLESTON, S.C. – James Madison men's tennis opened up Colonial Athletic Association play with some flair, as it handed College of Charleston a 5-2 loss at the College of Charleston Tennis Center at Patriots Point.

JMU (10-3, 1-0) earned two three-set victories and an upset-doubles win to deny the Cougars (8-2, 0-1) a ninth straight win.

At No. 2, freshman William Karpinski and sophomore Gonzalo Adis snatched a 6-3 victory from No. 37 Johnny Wang and Benedikt Henning. It was the duo's fourth doubles win in a row and the first JMU win over a ranked opponent this spring. Seconds later, the team of sophomore Alvaro Arce and senior Pierre Kohler took a 6-4 victory, to clinch the doubles point.

"From the first return game, we were putting pressure on them, and we had looks on every service game," Karpinski said. "When it came down to the pressure points, they cracked and we didn't. Our return game is strong; we played against the No. 37 team in the country today, and I thought we should've broken more than once."

With the Dukes up 1-0, Karpinski fell 6-1, 6-4 at No. 6 to even the match. Junior Damon Roberts pulled through in a tight second set to secure a 6-1, 7-6 (2) win. The match would end up knotted again, as Kohler wasn't able to come out on top at No. 1, dropping a 6-1, 3-6, 6-0 contest to Henning.

At 2-2, JMU cranked up the energy and urgency on all three courts. Junior Paul Mendoza steamrolled through a third set, earning a 6-3, 3-6, 6-0 win, which gave the Dukes a lead they would never relinquish. Arce then clinched the match on an Easton Thomas double fault, giving the Spaniard a straight-set triumph.

"Alvaro always gets off to quick starts in the first set, but today he had two tight sets and played well throughout it," assistant coach Jason Sinkoff said. "He's had two matches in a row where he's taken it in two sets instead of going into a third, so that's big."

To put the cherry on top, Adis earned his second third-set-tiebreak victory of the week, this time by a score of 6-4, 1-6, 7-6 (1).

This marks the second straight year the Dukes have defeated the Cougars 5-2. It was JMU's first outside match of the spring.

RESULTS
Singles
1. Benedikt Henning def. Pierre Kohler 6-1, 3-6, 6-0
2. Alvaro Arce def. Easton Thomas 7-5, 6-4
3. Paul Mendoza def. Ben Cawston 6-3, 3-6, 6-0
4. Damon Roberts def. Johnny Wang 6-1, 7-6 (2)
5. Gonzalo Adis def. Ksawery Pociej 6-4, 1-6, 7-6 (1)
6. Andre Limon def. William Karpinski 6-1, 6-4

Doubles
1. Kohler/Arce def. Thomas/Pociej 6-4
2. Adis/Karpinski def. No. 37 Henning/Wang 6-3
3. Mendoza/Steinour led Cawston/Krick 6-5, unfinished

QUOTING COACH SECORD
It's exciting and a great feeling to start a tough conference schedule with a win and be on top of the standings. Winning the doubles point was big; all three teams gave us a chance to win. I was proud of how the guys fought. You come on spring break looking for the warm weather and we didn't get that, but we weren't fazed by it. It's a good start. Any of those conference wins you can get end up big, when we are picking seeds. Learning from a tight loss and not liking the feeling in Greensboro helped, and today we beared down and got the win.

UP NEXT
JMU will travel to Belmont Abbey College to take on the Crusaders tomorrow, March 6, at 2 p.m.