Secord Earns 300th Win as Dukes Top Spiders, 6-1

Friday, March 4

Harrisonburg, Va.

1 p.m.

James Madison University

Richmond

3/4/2022 6:02:00 PM | Men's Tennis

Box Score Photo Gallery

HARRISONBURG, Va. – James Madison men's tennis swept all six singles matches to earn a decisive 6-1 victory against Richmond and the 300th of Head Coach Steve Secord's career on Friday afternoon at Hillside Courts.

The Dukes improved to 7-2 on the year, while the Spiders fell to 4-5.

JMU found themselves in an early deficit, after falling 6-4 in a pair of doubles matches. Youssef Sadek and Oscar Hernandez were tied with Josh Keitelman and Alex Wernink on court two, 5-5, when the match went unfinished.

In singles play, William Karpinski evened the score at one apiece by defeating Wernink, 6-2, 6-2 on court two.

Sadek finished seconds behind Karpinski on court three to give the Dukes a 2-1 lead. He overcame an early deficit in the first set, dispatching Campbell Erwin, 7-5, 6-1.

Holden Koons followed that up with a point on court one over John Walsh. After a marathon tiebreaker in set one, in which he won 11-9, Koons made quick work in set two, winning the match 7-6 (9), 6-2.

The clinching point came on court four, as Hernandez outlasted Sebastian Miano in three sets, 6-2, 3-6, 6-2.

The Dukes earned their final two points by way of comebacks. On court five, Edson Sanchez beat Keitelman, 5-7, 6-3, 6-2. Mathieu Josserand finished it out for JMU on court six, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3, over Ricky Bell.

QUOTING COACH STEVE SECORD
"Jason [Sinkoff] summed it up really well to the guys, talking about having faith in yourself, knowing physically they can go three sets. Holden had a tight first set that could've gone either way and came through. I'm really happy with the guys at the bottom on courts four through six. I was pleased, I thought everyone did a good job of keeping their head down and not looking around [at other scores]. If any one those guys had to be the one to clinch, I felt they could have. We have to figure out the doubles, and we'll have a complete team."

ON WIN #300…
"Definitely means I'm old," Secord said laughlingly. "It's cool, I'm blessed I get to do what I love and hang out with great people. The relationships I've gotten to make in my 30 years here has been great and want to keep this party rolling. Getting to coach here is a dream come true, not a lot of people get to do that. And for as long as I have, coaching is a crazy business. I've been at JMU longer than anywhere in my life, so it means a lot."

UP NEXT
The Dukes travel to Charlotte, N.C., to take on Queens University on Saturday, March 12 in the first of five straight road matches for Spring Break. First serve will take place at 2 p.m.