LYNCHBURG, Va., March 18, 2010 - The James Madison men's tennis team won four of the six singles matches to pick up a 4-3 win over Liberty at the LU Tennis Courts in Lynchburg, Va. on Thursday.

The Dukes won their fifth straight match to improve to 9-6 this season, while the Flames dropped to 6-7.

Liberty swept doubles play to jump out to a quick 1-0 lead.  Tristan Stayt and Siim Tuus led the way, beating senior Mike Smith (Fairfax Station, Va./Robinson) and junior Matt King (Lorton, Va./Robinson) 8-6 at No. 1, before Giancarlo Lemmi and Chad Simpson sealed the point with a 8-5 win at No. 2.

JMU fought back in doubles play winning four singles matches for the win.  Four of the six matches went into a third-set tiebreaker with Madison winning three of them.

Freshmen Stephen Hardy (Fairfax, Va./Robinson) and Greg Vladimirsky (Coral Springs, Fla./Broward Virtual) celebrated their birthdays in style on Thursday, winning matches at Nos. 4 and 2, respectively.  Vladimirsky defeated Tuus 7-5, 6-3 to extend his personal winning streak to five matches and improve his record to 16-7, while Hardy upped his season mark to 11-8 with a 6-1, 3-6, 7-6(4) win over Simpson.

Reigning Colonial Athletic Association Player of the Week sophomore Tommi Nissinen (Oulu, Finland/Kastellin Lukio) won the decisive point for the Dukes, beating Lemmi 7-5, 5-7, 7-5 at No. 3 in a nearly three-hour match.  It was the sixth consecutive win for the Finland-native as he improved to 11-4 this spring and 18-7 overall.

Sophomore Jovan Milic (Belgrade, Serbia/Belgrade Sports School) improved to 11-6 with a 4-6, 6-1, 6-3 win over Benjamin Wirth at No. 6 singles.

JMU continues play this weekend as it host its first home matches of the season, welcoming in Binghamton on Saturday and Longwood on Sunday at the Hillside Tennis Courts.

JMU 4, Liberty 3

Doubles
No. 1 - Stayt/Tuus (LU) def. King/Smith (JMU), 8-6
No. 2 - Lemmi/Simpson (LU) def. Voznenko/Hardy (JMU), 8-5
No. 3 - Steyn/Reyes (LU) def. Vladimirsky/Maaranen (JMU), 9-8 (4)

Singles

No. 1 - Stayt (LU) def. Smith (JMU), 6-3, 4-6, 6-4
No. 2 - Vladimirsky (JMU) def. Tuus (LU), 7-5, 6-3
No. 3 - Nissinen (JMU) def. Lemmi (LU), 7-5, 5-7, 7-5
No. 4 - Hardy (JMU) def. Simpson (LU), 6-1, 3-6, 7-6(4)
No. 5 - Steyn (LU) def. Voznenko (JMU), 6-3, 7-6(2)
No. 6 - Milic (JMU) def. Wirth (LU), 4-6, 6-1, 6-3

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