RICHMOND, Va., April 1, 2010 - James Madison men's tennis improved to six matches over .500 with a 4-3 win over Richmond at the Richmond Tennis Complex on Thursday.

The Dukes won for the 10th time in their last 12 matches to improve to 14-8 overall.  The Spiders lost their third straight to drop to 7-11.

In doubles play, JMU grabbed two of three matches to open up a 1-0 lead.  Senior Mike Smith (Fairfax Station, Va./Robinson) and junior Matt King (Lorton, Va./Robinson) kicked things off with an 8-4 win over Sebastien Fauchet and Jesse Feder at No. 1.  After Richmond evened doubles play with a win at No. 2, sophomore Tommi Nissinen (Oulu, Finland/Kastellin Lukio) teamed with sophomore Jovan Milic (Belgrade, Serbia/Belgrade Sports School) to clinch the point with a 9-7 win at No. 3.

It was the first doubles match for Nissinen since the Dukes match with Duquesne on Feb. 19 and his first win since fall tournament play.

The teams split in singles play with the Dukes taking victories at Nos. 2, 3 and 6.  Freshman Greg Vladimirsky (Coral Springs, Fla./Broward Virtual) won the decisive point, beating Feder 6-4, 6-2.  Nissinen triumphed over William Minter at No. 3 6-2, 6-3.  He improved to 17-5 in dual matches this spring and 24-8 overall.  King picked up Madison's third singles point, beating Rafael Arana 6-3, 6-2 at No. 6.

Junior Yaroslav Voznenko (Kherson, Ukraine/Kherson Technical School) battled A.J. Nelson to a third-set but lost in a super tiebreaker 10-6.

The Dukes return to the courts next Wednesday as they play host to Georgetown at the Hillside Tennis Courts at 2 p.m.

JMU 4, UR 3

Doubles
No. 1 - Smith/King (JMU) def. Fauchet/Feder (UR), 8-4
No. 2 - Minter/Schrode (UR) def. Maaranen/Voznenko (JMU), 8-6
No. 3 - Nissinen/Milic (JMU) def. Arana/Nelson (UR), 9-7

Singles
No. 1 - Fauchet (UR) def. Smith (JMU), 6-1, 6-4
No. 2 - Vladimirsky (JMU) def. Feder (UR), 6-4, 6-2
No. 3 - Nissinen (JMU) def. Minter (UR), 6-2, 6-3
No. 4 - Nelson (UR) def. Voznenko (JMU), 4-6, 6-4, 10-6
No. 5 - Schrode (UR) def. Milic (JMU), 7-5, 7-6(5)
No. 6 - King (JMU) def. Arana (UR), 6-3, 6-2

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