BLACKSBURG, Va., March 5, 2013 - No. 65 Virginia Tech swept James Madison men's tennis on Tuesday afternoon at the Burrows-Burleson Tennis Center in Blacksburg, Va. The Hokies won all three doubles matches to take the point and claimed two-set victories in each singles match.
The Dukes are now 2-5 on the spring while the Hokies improve to 7-3, including 7-1 at home.
Seniors Bastien Russo (Lyon, France/Notre Dame des Minimes (Shorter)) and Florent Sentenac (Borderes, France/Lycee Theophile Gautier (Auburn Montgomery)) looked to get things started for JMU but were halted 8-2 by Trpimir Kujundzic and Marko Lovrinovic at the No. 3 position. The doubles point was sealed for Virginia Tech when Hunter Koontz and Lucas Oliveira took down seniors Hugo Ramadier (Rome, Italy/Lycee Francais Chateabriand (Northern Arizona)) and Greg Vladimirsky (Coral Springs, Fla./Broward Virtual) 8-5 at the No. 2 position.
Senior Ryan Pool (Melbourne, Australia/Braemar (UT-Chattanooga)) and freshman Robert Stirling (Caboolture, Australia/St. Columbans College) battled hard at the No. 1 doubles position against the eighth-ranked doubles team in the country, but ultimately fell 9-8 (4) to Andreas Bjerrehus and Amerigo Contini. The JMU duo saw its two-match win streak end and fell to 2-3 in double duals this season.
No. 68 Contini defeated Vladimirsky 6-3, 6-1 at the No. 2 singles position to give the Hokies a 2-0 advantage opening singles play. Ramadier lost 6-1, 6-3 to Koontz at the No 4 position, and freshman Maxi Branth (Stockholm, Sweden/Tullinge Gymnasium) fell 6-4, 6-3 to Lovrinovic at the No. 6 position to grab the decisive fourth point.
JMU and Virginia Tech played on, and the Hokies' Kujundzic snapped Sentenac's two-match win streak in 6-3, 6-2 fashion at the No. 5 slot. Pool also saw his two-match win streak end at the hands of No. 74 Bjerrehus at the No. 1 position. Rounding out the day was Oliveira's 6-4, 6-2 victory over Stirling at the No. 3 position.
The Dukes continue their trek south and next hit Charlotte, N.C. for a neutral-court match against S.C. State. Doubles play gets underway at 1 p.m. on Thursday, March 7.
#65 VIRGINIA TECH 7,
JMU 0
Doubles
1. #8 Bjerrehus/Contini (VT) def. Pool/Stirling (JMU) 9-8(4)
2. Koontz/Oliveira (VT) def.
Ramadier/Vladimirsky (JMU) 8-5
3. Kujundzic/Lovrinovic (VT) def.
Bastien Russo/Sentenac (JMU) 8-2
Order of finish: 3,2*,1
Singles
1. #74 Andreas Bjerrehus (VT)
def. Ryan Pool (JMU) 6-4, 6-3
2. #68 Amerigo Contini (VT)
def. Greg Vladimirsky (JMU) 6-3, 6-1
3. Lucas Oliveira (VT)
def. Robert Stirling (JMU) 6-4, 6-2
4. Hunter Koontz (VT)
def. Hugo Ramadier (JMU) 6-1, 6-3
5. Trpimir Kujundzic (VT)
def. Florent Sentenac (JMU) 6-3, 6-2
6. Marko Lovrinovic (VT)
def. Maxi Branth (JMU) 6-4, 6-3
Order of finish: 2,4,6*,5,1,3
