Dukes Drop Tough 4-1 Decision to Arkansas at ITA Kickoff Weekend

Saturday, January 29

Charlottesville, Va.

8:05 p.m.

James Madison University

Arkansas

Dukes Drop Tough 4-1 Decision to Arkansas at ITA Kickoff Weekend

1/29/2022 10:31:00 PM | Women's Tennis

Box Score

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – James Madison captured the doubles point for the early lead before Arkansas rallied past the Dukes 4-1 at the ITA Kickoff Weekend on Saturday night at the Boar's Head Resort.

The Razorbacks improved to 4-1 on the year, while the Dukes fell to 1-2 on the spring season. It was JMU's first matchup against Arkansas and just the fourth all-time against a Southeastern Conference opponent.

JMU won the doubles point in thrilling fashion to grab the 1-0 match lead. After Arkansas gained the advantage with a 6-1 win on court one, JMU evened things up with a solid win on court two. The team of Daria Afanasyeva and Kylie Moulin took down Lenka Stara and Laura Rijkers, 6-4.

JMU led 5-2 on court three, but the Razorbacks climbed to within 5-4 and led 40-30 while on serve. With Arkansas needing one point to extend the match, the tandem of Hope Moulin and Natalia Nikolopoulou won consecutive points to break the serve and clinch the doubles point with a 6-4 triumph against Kelly Keller and Indianna Spink.

In singles play, Arkansas evened the match at 1-1 on court one after Tatum Rice upended Afanasyeva, 6-2, 6-3. The Razorbacks grabbed the lead, at 2-1, as Stara beat Hope Moulin, 7-5, 6-1 on court four.

Arkansas claimed the win on court six when Rijkers battled past Alexandra Prudente, 6-3, 6-2, extending the advantage to 3-1. The Razorbacks closed out the match in a tightly-contested match on court three when Keller bested Kylie Moulin by scores of 6-4, 6-4.

Two matches went unfinished on courts two and five. Nikolopoulou and Spink were tied at a set apiece (6-3, 4-6), while Voloh was up a set (6-4, 4-2) and leading in the second against Morgan Cross.

UP NEXT
JMU returns home on Saturday Feb. 5 to host Penn State. The opening serve is set for 2 p.m. at the East Campus Tennis Courts.