Posted on March 26, 2006
After dropping three of its first five singles matches, the JMU women’s tennis team faced its second consecutive defeat at the hands of George Washington; but that was before the doubles matches began.
Madison’s No. 6 player Kelly Maxwell would tie the overall match at 3-3 as she won the decisive third set, to beat the Colonial’s Rachel Honig; 5-7, 6-4, 6-2. The Dukes would need to win two of the three doubles matches to complete the comeback.
“They knew that it was gonna come down to doubles,” JMU coach Maria Malerba said. “They wanted to win all three.”
The Dukes only won two, but that’s all they needed to beat GW by a 4-3 final.
The No. 2 doubles team of freshmen Rebecca Erickson and Briana Jain handled GW quickly, winning 8-4 in the eight-game pro-set. But following a tough loss in singles, the Dukes’ No. 1 player senior Mary Napier continued to struggle with teammate, sophomore Anna Khoor.
JMU’s top duo lost 5-8, putting the pressure on the No. 3 doubles tandem of Maxwell and senior Lauren Graham.
Maxwell and Graham took the lead at 5-4 and carried the momentum into the next three games, dominating G.W.’s Honig and Tracy Stecko to an 8-4 final and an overall match victory by a score of 4-3.
“They’re just trying to maintain a high level of play, and keep up with their school work while playing lots of matches,” Malerba said.
In the singles matches, Napier lost in a 6-2, 6-2 decision to GW’s Kendall Swenson, putting the Dukes in an early 0-1 hole.
In the first game of the match, Napier missed on five first serves and gave up game point on her second double fault. The senior captain went down 0-5 in the first set before finally breaking serve when Swenson double-faulted herself.
“She’s [Swenson] a pretty consistent player, so it’s hard to stay in a point,” Napier said.
The second set was much of the same for Napier. She repeatedly missed on drop shots, trying to draw Swenson to the net.
“I feel like she was the kind of player you need to beat at the net, instead of just playing down strokes,” Napier said.
On court two, Khoor won her fourth match of the year, beating Madhuri Jha 6-4, 6-4. Erickson provided the team’s third singles win defeating Mara Frisch in straight sets, 6-3, 6-3.
“I started out the match excited,” Erickson said. “I needed high intensity the whole match and I played well.”
Maxwell continued her strong play on Saturday, when she defeated Longwoods Brittany Huddleston 6-1, 6-1. It was not enough, as the Dukes fell 5-2 to the Lancers in their second match of the weekend. Jain nothced JMU’s only other win 6-4, 6-2 over Ashley Melson.
Colonial Athletic Association play starts March 31 when the Dukes take on the Tigers of Towson and the North Carolina-Wilmington Seahawks.
