BLACKSBURG, Va. (JMU Athletics) – James Madison women’s tennis stormed back from a 3-1 deficit and overcame multiple match points to register its first win against Virginia Tech in almost 26 years in a 4-3 triumph on Sunday evening at the Burrows-Burleson Tennis Center.
The Dukes (3-4) earned its first victory over the Hokies (3-2) since March 31, 2000, after capturing the doubles point and reeling off singles triumphs on courts four, five and six. It was also the first time since Oct. 2, 1993, that JMU beat VT in Blacksburg.
Trailing 3-1 after a set of Hokie singles victories on courts one, two and three, Sophie Williams and Anna Kantor turned in straight-set wins on courts four and six to knot the bout at 3-3.
The final match on court five, featuring JMU’s Ariel Avidan and VT’s Alston Myatt, would come down to a third-set tiebreak, but not before late heroics forced the deciding breaker. Myatt took a set lead, but Avidan bounced back to take the second frame.
In the third set, Avidan faced a total of four match points, including two while down 5-4 and two while trailing 6-5, but staved off all four serves from Myatt to tie the set at 6-6 and send it to a tiebreak. In the race to seven, Avidan led 2-1 before winning three straight points to extend it to 5-1 at the changeover. Up 5-2, she claimed the final two points to win the breaker, 7-2, and the match by scores of 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 (2).
Earlier in the match, JMU grabbed the early 1-0 lead with a thrilling finish to doubles. The team of Brooklyn Hoffmann and Williams rolled to a 6-0 win over Arina Gamretkaia and Ozlem Uslu on court one. After the Hokies won 6-2 on court two, the duo of Avidan and Daria Munteanu rallied back from down 5-3 to beat Myatt and Kirsten Woods, 7-6 (4).
Virginia Tech opened singles with three straight victories on the top courts, as Gamretkaia downed Mia Saveljic on court three (6-3, 6-2) and Uslu pulled away from Munteanu on court one (7-5, 6-0). Despite forcing a third set on court two, Hoffmann fell in the third to Laima Frosch in a close one (6-3, 4-6, 6-4).
Williams won a highly-contested match on court four, as she held off Elizaveta Castillo by scores of 7-6 (2), 6-4. Kantor tied the match a while after, as she cruised past Woods on court six, at 6-2, 6-2. Those two wins set up Avidan’s thrilling finish on court five.
JMU’s gauntlet of power-four conference opponents continue on Wednesday, Feb. 18 with a trip to College Park, Md., when the Dukes face Maryland in a 2 p.m. start.
— JMU Athletics —
