Dukes Win Pair of Doubles Titles at Wake Forest Invitational

Friday, October 28

Winston-Salem, N.C.

James Madison University

Wake Forest Invitational

Dukes Win Pair of Doubles Titles at Wake Forest Invitational

10/30/2022 2:11:00 PM | Men's Tennis

Box Score

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – James Madison men's tennis closed the fall-tournament slate by winning a pair of doubles flight titles at the Wake Forest Invitational (Oct 28-30), hosted at the Wake Forest Tennis Center.

The team of Julian Lozano and Edson Sanchez rolled through the B doubles flight, while the tandem of Aathreya Mahesh and Canon Secord controlled the C doubles flight for the program's first two doubles flight championships of the year.

Holden Koons highlighted JMU's singles play, reaching the final of the A2 singles flight.

The Dukes claimed a total of 16 wins on the weekend, which included an impressive 9-1 record in doubles play. They also won seven singles matches, with three coming from Koons and two each from Sanchez and Mahesh.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Doubles Play
JMU opened the weekend with a strong start in doubles play with all three tandems going 2-0 in Friday's action. The Dukes went 2-1 on Saturday in doubles, with the two wins resulting in flight titles, while they closed the weekend with a consolation victory on Sunday.

In B doubles, Lozano and Sanchez conceded just three games in each of their three wins. In the quarterfinals, they took down VCU's Joaquim Almeida and Gray Voelzke, 6-3. The duo followed it up with a 6-3 triumph versus Davidson's William Clark and Max Kachkarov.

The following day, they won the flight with a 6-3 victory against Bluefield State's Luis Agullo Diaz Munio and Juan Manuel De Freitas. It was Lozano's second flight title of the fall, as he also won Flight C at the Richmond City UTR Open in September.

In C doubles, Mahesh and Secord gave up just eight total games over their three bouts. In the quarters, they cruised past Bluefield's Fabian Avail-Torress and Jose Marquez, 6-1. Their closed matchup came in the semifinals, as they slid past North Carolina A&T's Eder Blanco and Alex Martinez, 7-5.

In the title match, they left no doubt with a 6-2 victory over Georgia Southern's Laurent Julia Calac and Dimitris Paliouras.

The team of Koons and Youssef Sadek went 3-1 in A doubles to round out doubles play. In the round of 16, they downed Stetson's Lucas Olivier and Juan Jose Rodriguez, 6-3. Later on Friday, they dominated for a 6-1 win against Georgia Southern's Judson Blair and Pol Del Castillo.

After suffering a 6-3 setback to Wake Forest's Juan Lopez de Azcona and Bozo Barun in the semis, they closed the weekend with a 7-5 consolation victory versus Richmond's Alex Wernink and John Walsh.

Singles Play
Koons advanced to the final of the A2 singles bracket, reeling in a 3-1 singles mark to lead the Dukes. He opened the tournament with a 6-2, 6-2 win against NC A&T's Esteban Lopez.

In Saturday's action, he took down a pair of Wake Forest athletes, beating Adam Duan, 6-1, 6-2, in the quarterfinals and Lopez de Azcona, 6-3, 6-3, in the semifinals. In the final, he fell to VCU's Charles Bertimon by scores of 7-6 (5), 6-3.

Sanchez split his matches in the B singles bracket, picking up a pair of consolation wins. After a slow start, he closed the weekend with a 6-0, 6-1 victory against Wake's Togan Makzume and a 6-3, 6-3 triumph versus Tennessee Tech's Pol Masafret.

Mahesh also won a pair in C singles, taking a 6-0, 6-3 decision from Georgia Southern's Alex Amacher and a 6-3, 7-6 (5) bout against Stetson's Alexandre Hillhouse.

QUOTING HEAD COACH STEVE SECORD
"We have seen a lot of growth and development this fall. We still have things to work on leading into the spring. We know the competition in the Sun Belt is going to be intense. We know we will need to compete hard at every spot in the lineup, and the guys are excited about competing as a team!"

UP NEXT
JMU's spring dual-match schedule will be announced in the coming weeks. This will be the Dukes' first season as a member of the Sun Belt Conference.