HARRISONBURG, Va., March 13, 2012 - The James Madison women's tennis team opened its home schedule on Tuesday with a 6-1 win over Howard. The Dukes are now 6-2 on the season while Howard falls to 2-3 in spring competition.
JMU jumped out to a hot start, grabbing the doubles point in quick fashion. The junior/freshman pairing of Katherine Bulling (Loveland, Ohio/Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy) and Taylor Pinchoff (Sylvan Lake, Mich./West Bloomfield) were on top of their game, defeating Howard's Anne Akhimien and Talia Johnson 8-0 in the No. 2 doubles match. In No. 3 doubles junior Megan Douglass (Wilton, Conn./St. Luke's) paired up with sophomore Ruxandra Andriescu (Brampton, Ontarion, Canada/Turner Fenton) to earn a swift victory over Michelle Brown and Corey Hawthorne 8-0, to secure the JMU point.
At No. 1 doubles Howard's Katelyn Stokes and Brittney Morgan were able to earn a hard fought victory over JMU's senior Kinsey Pate (Matthews, N.C./Butler) and junior Michelle Nguyen (Springfield, Va./South County). The match was tightly contested the whole time but the Bison's pairing was able to top the Dukes' duo 8-6.
Bulling carried the momentum over from her doubles win to the singles game. She downed Hawthorne in straight sets 6-0, 6-0 to earn JMU its second point of the match.
The Bison struck back, however, earning a win and their only point of the match in No.1 singles where Stokes took down Pate in straight sets 6-0, 6-1.
The Dukes were in total control from that point on, winning the next four matches in straight sets to earn the 6-1 victory. Jacqueline Palmucci (Aurora, Colo./Cherokee Trail) upped her spring singles record to 5-3, taking down Morgan 6-1, 6-1 in No 2 singles and Pinchoff followed at No. 4 singles with a 6-3, 6-0 defeat of Johnson to secure the Dukes' victory.
At the No. 3 singles position, Brown took Nguyen deep in both sets, but the JMU junior was able to prevail 6-4, 6-4. Douglass wrapped up the match with a 6-3, 6-3 defeat of Akhimien in No. 5 singles.
The Dukes continue their home stand on Friday, March 16 against Radford. The Dukes clash with the Highlanders in a 3 p.m. contest at the Hillside Tennis Courts.
JMU 6, Howard 1
March 13, 2012
Doubles:
1. Stokes/Morgan (Howard) def. Pate/Nguyen 8-6
2. Bulling/Pinchoff (JMU) def. Akhimien/Johnson 8-0
3. Douglass/Andriescu (JMU) def. Brown/Hawthorne 8-0
Singles:
1. Stokes (Howard) def. Pate 6-0, 6-1
2. Palmucci (JMU) def. Morgan 6-1, 6-1
3. Nguyen (JMU) def. Brown 6-4, 6-4
4. Pinchoff (JMU) def. Johnson 6-3, 6-0
5. Douglass (JMU) def. Akhimien 6-3, 6-3
6. Bulling (JMU) def. Hawthorne 6-0, 6-0
Order of Finish:
Doubles: 2, 3, 1
Singles: 6, 1, 2, 4, 3, 5
