RICHMOND, Va., March 17, 2010 - The James Madison women's tennis team picked snapped its four-game losing streak with a 5-2 win over in-state rival Richmond at the Country Club of Virginia on Wednesday.

JMU won for the first time since a 5-2 win over Liberty in White Sulphur Springs, W. Va. on Jan. 29 to improve to 2-6 this year, while the Spiders dropped to 3-5.

UR swept doubles play to jump out to a 1-0 lead.  Kelly Tidwell and Isabel Arana led the way for the Spiders, defeating senior Rebecca Erickson (Rye, N.Y./Heritage Academy) and freshman Megan Douglass (Wilton, Conn./St. Luke's School) 8-0 at No. 2 doubles.

JMU rebounded by winning five of the six doubles matches.  Freshman Katherine Bulling (Loveland, Ohio/Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy) started things off with a 6-1, 2-6, 6-3 win over Helen Cunningham at No. 1, while sophomore Kinsey Pate (Matthews, N.C./Butler) defeated Tidwell 6-2, 4-6, 6-0 at No. 2.  Freshman Michelle Nguyen (Springfield, Va./South County Secondary School) made it a perfect 3-0 in matches decided in a third-set tiebreaker when she beat Mariana Arana 7-5, 4-6, 6-4.

Also winning in singles play were Douglass at No. 4, and junior Kristin Nimitz (Richmond, Va./Deep Run) at No. 6.

The Dukes will host their first home match of the season on Saturday, when they welcome Georgetown to Harrisonburg for a 1:30 p.m. match

JMU 5, Richmond 2

Doubles
No. 1 - Clark/Cunningham (UR) def. Bulling/Pate (JMU), 8-5
No. 2 - Tidwell/I. Arana (UR) def. Erickson/Douglass (JMU), 8-0
No. 3 - Smyth/M. Arana (UR) def. Nguyen/Nimitz (JMU), 8-4

Singles
No. 1 - Bulling (JMU) def. Cunningham (UR), 6-1, 2-6, 6-3
No. 2 - Pate (JMU) def. Tidwell (UR), 6-2, 4-6, 6-0
No. 3 - Grant (UR) def. Erickson (JMU), 6-2, 7-6(3)
No. 4 - Douglass (JMU) def. I. Arana (UR), 6-1, 7-5
No. 5 - Nguyen (JMU) def. M. Arana (UR) 7-5, 4-6, 6-4
No 6 - Nimitz (JMU) def. Hartmeyer (UR), 6-1, 6-1

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