HARRISONBURG, Va. - James Madison men's tennis competed in the first round of competition at the three-day Elon Invitational this afternoon.
Senior Ryan Pool (Melbourne, Australia/Braemar (Chattanooga)) started the day off right for the Dukes, defeating UNC Asheville's John Schuble 6-1, 6-2 in the A2 singles bracket. Pool moves on to Saturday's A2 singles quarterfinal round where he faces Elon's Brian Kowalski on Saturday.
Pool also partnered with freshman Robert Stirling (Caboolture, Australia) to capture a doubles victory for JMU. In the A2 doubles bracket, Pool/Stirling defeated Winthrop's Michael Chen and Steven Patrick, taking the match 8-3. The duo moves on to the A2 doubles semifinals against Richmond's Ethan Dunbar and Sebastien Fauchet on Sunday.
Freshman Maxi Branth (Stockholm, Sweden) rounded out the day for the Dukes when he notched his first collegiate victory in singles play. Branth swept Campbell's Josep Baro 6-3, 7-6(5) in the C1 singles bracket and faces East Carolina's Patriek Wolterbeek in the quarterfinals tomorrow.
JMU returns to the courts on Saturday for day two of the Elon Invitational.
Singles
A1: Steven Patrick (Winthrop) def. Greg Vladimirsky 6-3, 6-4
A2: Ryan Pool def. John Schuble (UNC-A) 6-1, 6-2
B1: Zvonimir Podviniski (ODU) def. Robert Stirling 6-4, 6-2
B2: Matias Di Pasquale (CCU) def. Florent Sentenac 6-1, 6-4
C1: Maxi Branth def. Josep Baro (Campbell) 6-3, 7-6(5)
C2: Ross Nigro (ECU) def. Bastien Russo 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(5)
Doubles
A2: Pool/Stirling def. Chen/Patrick (Winthrop), 8-3
B1: Arboleda/Yates (Elon/USC Upstate) def. Branth/Sentenac, 8-3
C1: Rodriguez/Glavin (ODU) def. Vladimirsky/Russo, 8-3
