WASHINGTON, D.C., April 9, 2010 - James Madison men's tennis closed its 2009-10 regular season with a 5-1 loss to George Washington at the Mount Vernon Tennis Center in Washington, D.C. on Friday.

The loss drops the Dukes to 15-9 overall.  The Colonials won twice on Friday to improve to 8-9 heading into their season finale against Longwood on Sunday.

GW won a tight doubles point, sweeping all three matches.  Two of the three doubles pairings went into a tiebreaker, including a 9-8(6) win by Erik Hannah and Chris Kushma over senior Mike Smith (Fairfax Station, Va./Robinson) and junior Matt King (Lorton, Va./Robinson) at No. 1.  Ugur Atalay and Richard Blumenfeld outlasted junior Yaroslav Voznenko (Kherson, Ukraine/Kherson Technical School) and sophomore Ville Maaranen (Joensuu, Finland/Joensuun Lukio) at No. 2, 9-8(6).

The sweep was completed by Yan Levinski and Ken Mkrtchian with an 8-5 win at No. 3.

Smith picked up JMU's lone point, beating Atalay 7-6(4), 6-2 at No. 1.  The win improved the senior to 13-11 in spring play and 19-16 overall.  Sophomore Tommi Nissinen (Oulu, Finland/Kastellin Lukio) saw his winning streak snapped at seven matches with a 7-5, 6-3 loss to Kushma at No. 3.  He dropped to 18-6 in the spring and 25-9 overall.

The Dukes return to the court April 15-18 in Norfolk, Va. at the 2010 CAA Championships.  Madison went 3-5 in eight conference matches this season.

GW 5, JMU 1

Doubles
No. 1 - Kushma/Hannah (GW) def. King/Smith (JMU), 9-8(6)
No. 2 - Atalay/Blumenfeld (GW) def. Maaranen/Voznenko (JMU), 9-8(8)
No. 3 - Levinski/Mkrtchian (GW) def. Vladimirsky/Hardy (JMU), 8-5

Singles
No. 1 - Smith (JMU) def. Atalay (GW), 7-6(4), 6-2
No. 2 - Hannah (GW) def. Vladimirsky (JMU), 6-3, 7-5
No. 3 - Kushma (GW) def. Nissinen (JMU), 7-5, 6-3
No. 4 - Levinski (GW) def. Voznenko (JMU), 6-3, 6-2
No. 5 - Blumenfeld (GW) def. King (JMU), 4-6, 6-1, 6-3
No. 6 - Mkrtchian (GW) vs. Milic (JMU), 6-4, DNF

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