Dukes dominate Rams 7-0
Madison's men's tennis rolls in final home match
By Brian Hansen, sports editor
Posted on April 13, 2006

The JMU men’s tennis team played their last home match of the season Tuesday, defeating the Shepherd College Rams 7-0.

The Dukes, who were coming off a close victory over the Lancers of Longwood 4-3 Sunday, dominated the overmatched Division-II school.

“Competition-wise, we knew they were going to be a level down from what we’re used to playing,” JMU coach Steve Secord said. “We played pretty well, but this isn’t the normal talent we play.”

Madison got big 6-0, 6-0 victories from both junior Brian Clay and sophomore Carlin Campbell to help dominate the match. Clay played in the second position and defeated Shepherd No. 2 David Seifarth while Campbell played No. 4 to beat Eric Stevenson.

Clay also teamed up with senior John Snead to win their doubles match 8-3 over Seifarth and Casey Moser.

“I was pretty consistent today,” Clay said. “I hit the ball well and tried to keep him moving.”

Snead played No. 1 for the Dukes. He frustrated Shepherd No. 1 Casey Moser all day and beat him 6-1, 6-0.

“I kept the ball in play and made the extra shot,” Snead said. “He’d hit a good shot and I’d run it down and that seemed to frustrate him, and he started making some unforced errors. It made him play more then he’s used to.”

Other results for the Dukes were No. 3 senior Bob Allensworth beat Arthur Ebeling 6-1, 6-2. Freshman No. 5 Brian Rubenstein beat Andy Bosco 6-3, 6-0 and junior Don Davidson beat Scott Hasenei 6-1, 6-0 to take all six singles points.

“At this point of the year, it’s the end of the season and guys know what they have to do to get the job done,” Secord said. “They’re playing pretty well and we’re just trying to finish strong.”

Clay said, “It’s nice. It’s always nice to have some momentum going into the conference tournament on a roll.”

The Dukes also took the doubles point by sweeping all three matches. Along with Clay and Snead’s win, freshmen Rubenstein and Allensworth beat Ebeling and Stevenson 8-1 while Campbell and senior Michael McGettigan beat Bosco and Hasenei 8-2.

“It’s nice to win your last home match,” Snead said. “It’s always good to be rolling heading into conference championships.”

The Dukes have a road match against Division-III Washington & Lee next Tuesday before the Colonial Athletic Association Championships next weekend in Newport News.

The Dukes will run into some tough competition at the CAA championships with three teams ranked nationally. Virginia Commonwealth is ranked ninth in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association’s latest poll. Also ranked in that poll is Old Dominion at No. 49 and William & Mary at No. 70.

JMU will likely receive the sixth seed in the tournament and go onto face the third-seeded Tribe.

“[William & Mary is] pretty tough,” Secord said. “What we’ve tried to do is play tough opponents, to get us ready and hopefully, we’ll go out and give it our best shot.”