Dukes Complete Comeback Over Radford

Tuesday, April 2

Harrisonburg, Va.

2 p.m.

James Madison University

Radford

4/2/2019 7:10:00 PM | Men's Tennis

Box Score Gallery

HARRISONBURG, Va. – James Madison men's tennis came from down 3-1 to take a 4-3 victory over Radford on Tuesday afternoon. The Dukes were a perfect 9-0 in Harrisonburg this season, which was the first perfect mark since 2016-17.

SENIOR DAY

Happy Senior Day, Pierre!

Thank you for all the hard work and dedication you've given to our program over the years! pic.twitter.com/fQKlMu5via
— JMU Men's Tennis (@JMUMTennis) April 2, 2019

DOUBLES
JMU (14-7) gave it everything they had to start the match after honoring sole senior Pierre Kohler. Radford's (13-4) doubles tandem of Yevhem Sirous and Rodrigo Magalhaes gave the Highlanders the advantage with a 6-2 win on court one over Kohler and Alvaro Arce.

William Karpinski and Josh Raymundo battled on court three but Radford's team of Matko Varga and Andres Silva came away with the slim victory 6-4. Radford went into singles play with a 1-0 advantage.

SINGLES
Kohler battled on court one against Sirous. After grinding out a 7-5 first set victory, Kohler won 6-3 to pick up the win. The senior won his seventh match when playing on court one and tied tied the match at 1-1.

Paul Mendoza dropped the first set 6-3 on court three, but came right back and defeated Alexandros Caldwell 6-2 in the second set. Caldwell would get the best of the third set, 6-1, to give the Highlanders a 2-1 lead. Arce went into a first set tiebreak and won 7-6 (7). Magalhaes of Radford won the next two sets 6-2, 6-3 to put Radford up 3-1.

Karpinski is 2-0 when playing singles at court five as he took down Matko in straight sets 6-2, 6-4. The Dukes still trailed Radford 3-2 and looked to Damon Roberts at four and Tate Steinour at six to bring home the victory.

Roberts put in extra work to get the win at court five bringing both sets to tiebreaks. He picked up his 19^th singles win and fifth-straight with a 7-6 (4), 7-6 (7) victory to tie the match at three. Steinour won in straight sets 6-2, 6-3 on court six to give JMU the comeback victory, 4-3, over Radford. The Dukes also snapped the Highlanders three-match win streak.

WHAT THEY'RE SAYING
Coach Steve Secord: "It's always fun senior day, getting to honor them. He's only been here two years but it seems like he has had a really good impact on the team and I'm excited because he has one more semester of school so he'll be back unless we can talk him into more school. The win, it's always nice getting a win. We didn't start out well in doubles, we had some different teams, but even still I think Radford outplayed us. For Pierre to get that win he really fought and listened really well. Down the line, Will and Damon's, wins were huge. Tate was up and had to finish strong. Damon did a great job of listening as well, that's half the battle sometimes getting them to trust us. This is a good win for us."

Assistant Coach Jason Sinkoff: "Playing your best when you're not feeling your best, we did that today. Being comfortable when it's an uncomfortable situation, we did that today. This is a big confidence boost when we head into conference, because guys aren't always going to be feeling their best but they have to find a way to play well. They did that today and if we find a way to do that at conference, I know good things are going to happen."

Coach Secord: "Winning matches like when you're not full strength, is good but I know they can play better. I'm not taking anything away from them, but they figured out a way and that's great. They trusted the process and are growing."

UP NEXT
JMU begins a three-match road trip to close out the regular season starting on Saturday, April 6 at Richmond. The match is set to begin at 1 p.m.