JMU Battles in Tough Spring-Opening Loss to #9 Virginia

Friday, January 20

Charlottesville, Va.

4:30 p.m.

James Madison University

Virginia

1/20/2023 7:41:00 PM | Women's Tennis

Box Score

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – James Madison women's tennis opened its 2023 spring season with a tough 6-1 loss at #9 Virginia on Friday evening at the Boar's Head Sports Club.

The Cavaliers moved to 2-0 on the young season, while the Dukes dropped to 0-1.

Virginia opened the match by claiming the doubles point with three hard-fought wins. JMU held leads on each court, before U.Va. rallied to take a 1-0 match lead.

On court one, Kylie Moulin and Ines Oliveira held a 3-2 advantage before Julia Adams and Melodie Collard won four in a row for a 6-3 victory. The doubles point was secured on court two, as Natasha Subhash and Annabelle Xu held off Daria Munteanu and Daniela Voloh by a 6-4 score.

The Cavaliers completed the doubles sweep with an impressive comeback on court three. JMU's Daria Afanasyeva and Reka Matko held a 5-1 lead before the tandem of Elaine Chervinsky and Sara Ziodato rallied back to force a tiebreak, where they ultimately won, 7-6 (2).

In singles play, the Cavaliers extended the lead to 2-0 on court two, as Subhash, ranked 90th in the ITA singles rankings, cruised to a 6-0, 6-0 win against Afanasyeva. Virginia made it a 3-0 match on court five, as #62 Xu took down Munteanu, 6-2, 6-0.

Virginia secured the team win on court six with #77 Hibah Shaikh beating Matko, 6-2, 6-3. Court one featured a highly-competitive match between Moulin and 34th-ranked Adams, as Adams outlasted Moulin, 7-5, 6-4.

JMU got on the board with a thrilling victory on court three. After dropping the opening frame, Oliveira came back to beat 50th-ranked Chervinsky in a super tiebreaker, taking the match by scores of 3-6, 6-2, 1-0 (5).

The Cavaliers closed the match on court four, as Ziodato bested Voloh, 6-4, 6-4. In that match Voloh trailed 5-0 in the second set before reeling off four straight wins.

Match Notes

Oliveira became the first JMU player to earn a point against Virginia since April 4, 1990, when JMU beat the U.Va. 7-2 in Harrisonburg.
JMU earned its first point in a road match at Virginia since Oct. 14, 1987.
Friday's match was the second straight year the teams plays, but just the fourth time since the 1989-90 season.

Quoting Coach Shelley Jaudon
"I'm really proud of the way we competed tonight against a very good Virginia team. We gave ourselves opportunities to be successful in doubles and singles. Ines stepped up in a big way tonight, fighting her way to a top-50 singles win. I'm very excited to build off tonight's match and get back on the courts at home tomorrow afternoon."

Up Next
JMU returns to action on Saturday, Jan. 21 when it hosts George Washington. First serve from the East Campus Tennis Courts is set for 1 p.m.