JMU Wins 4-3 Thriller at FIU to Open Spring Break

Monday, March 16

Miami, Fla.

12:40 p.m.

James Madison University

FIU

3/16/2026 5:04:00 PM | Women's Tennis

Box Score

MIAMI, Fla. – James Madison women's tennis opened its spring break road trip with a thrilling 4-3 victory at FIU, which came down to a third-set tiebreak on the final court on Monday at the PayCargo Tennis Center.

The Dukes (9-6) won their sixth straight match this spring and earned their first victory ever in just the second all-time meeting against the Panthers (3-6).

JMU won the doubles point with a pair of 6-3 wins on courts one and three, and the teams split singles play, with the Dukes registering two of three wins in third sets.

That included Anna Kantor, who clinched the match on court five in a third-set tiebreak. After she and Aleksandra Simeva traded set wins, Simeva led 3-2 before Kantor reeled off three straight to take a 5-3 lead.

Kantor would have a number of match points, but Simeva staved off seven of them, including one while down 6-5 in the tiebreak. With the breaker knotted at 6-6, Kantor broke Simeva's serve and blasted a winner down the line on the ensuing point to take it 8-6 and the match by scores of 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (6).

JMU took the early 1-0 lead after capturing the doubles point. The four-time Sun Belt Doubles Team of the Week tandem of Brooklyn Hoffmann and Sophie Williams downed Viktorie Hazmukova and Katerina Mandelikova before Daria Munteanu and Ariel Avidan defeated Vittoria Baccino and Simeva.

In singles play, Hoffmann conceded just one game on court two en route to a 6-1, 6-0 triumph over Jelena Vico, extending her singles win streak to six in a row.

FIU got on the board on court one, as Mandelikova edged Munteanu by scores of 6-4, 6-4. Hazmukova tied the match for the Panthers over on court six, as she rolled in the second set for a 7-6, 6-1 victory against Corinna Rietmann.

JMU regained the lead on court three, as Avidan rallied from a set down to beat Baccino, at 3-6, 6-2, 6-2. FIU once again squared the match, this time at 3-3, when Maria Lucia Araoz-Gosn slipped past Williams, 6-4, 6-4, on court four.

That set up the final result on court five, with Kantor holding off Simeva for the decisive point.

JMU returns to action on Wednesday, March 18 when it heads north of Miami for Boca Raton to battle Florida Atlantic in a 10 a.m. matchup.