HARRISONBURG, Va. – James Madison turned in its most dominant performance of the season on Friday, as it rolled to a 7-0 men's tennis victory against UNC Asheville at the East Campus Tennis Courts.
The Dukes (10-6) improved to 5-1 at home this spring after capturing a pair of doubles matches and winning all six singles bouts in straight sets.
JMU evented the all-time series with the Bulldogs (10-6) at 3-3, as the programs met for the first time since 2020. It was UNC-A's first visit to Harrisonburg in the history of the series.
Winning in both doubles and singles play were
Esteve Agusti,
Zach Fleishman,
Gur Libal and
Aurelien Schmitt. Also notching singles victories were
Ryan Morgan and
Francisco Sinopoli.
JMU opened the day with doubles victories on courts one and two. The reigning Sun Belt Doubles Team of the Week in Agusti and Schmitt, cruised to a 6-1 win against Cian Ingles and Jip Mens, which marked the top duo's fourth straight win. JMU secured the doubles point via a 6-3 win from Fleishman and Libal, who won the final three games against Griffin Lovern and Harrison Cooper.
In the first half of singles play, Schmitt was the fastest to finish, dropping just three games en route to a 6-1, 6-2 triumph versus Ingles on court two. JMU extended its lead to 3-0 on court one, as Agusti fended off Mens by a 6-3, 6-4 margin.
Sinopoli clinched the decisive fourth point for JMU on court three, as he broke a 5-5 tie in the second with a break, followed by him serving out the match to defeat Daniel Franco-Key, at 6-4, 7-5.
The second half of singles were even more dominant by the Dukes, as courts four through six combined to concede just eight games in the six combined sets.
Morgan moved JMU's lead to 5-0 on court four, where he rolled past Trevor Gray, 6-1, 6-0. Fleishman needed just 14 games to capture his 6-0, 6-2 win over Cooper on court five, while Libal wrapped up the day a short time later with his 6-3, 6-2 victory against Lovern on court six.
JMU returns to action on Friday, April 3 with a trip to Conway, S.C., to face Sun Belt foe Coastal Carolina. The match is set for an 11 a.m. start.