Dukes get Old Dominion in first round of conference tournament
The men’s tennis season culminates this weekend at the Colonial Athletic Association Championships in Newport News. As the No. 6 seed, the Dukes will face the No. 3 Old Dominion Monarchs in the first round.
The Dukes ended their regular season with a 4-3 win over Georgetown Saturday, finishing with a 10-10 record.
Against the Hoyas, sophomore Mike Smith and senior Jesse Tarr were victorious as the No. 1 doubles team, winning for the seventh time in their past eight doubles matches.
Tarr and Smith each won his singles matches as well, as JMU’s No. 2 and No. 3 players, respectively. Madison’s No. 1, freshman Jared Robinson, also prevailed in three sets.
On the year, the South African newcomer was 13-6 in singles competition. Robinson will face off against Alexander Seleznev, the ODU senior from the Kyrgyz Republic, in the No 1. singles match Friday.
JMU’s strong performance in its final tune-up match before the CAAs gives the team confidence heading into this weekend.
“Wins like the one over Georgetown, who we had a good showing against last week, really help give us motivation and lift us up to play better in the CAAs,” Smith said.
The Dukes will get a tough ODU team Friday, poised to return to the CAA championship match for the fourth time in five years.
“We’re just trying to keep up a high level of excellence in the program,” ODU freshman Riley King said in a phone interview Wednesday.
JMU lost to the Monarchs 1-6 in February. That loss, however, was almost two months ago. At that time, the Dukes were in the midst of a four-match losing streak and held a 2-4 record. Although that match was not very close, the Dukes know they have the ability to compete against ODU this weeked.
“We definitely have a chance to make it a lot closer than it was against them earlier,” Tarr said. “They’re not unbeatable.”
Its recent success gives Madison the confidence to pull off the mini-upset over ODU. The Dukes have won six of their last eight matches.
“It will be a real tough match,” Smith said. “But at least we got some confidence going in with our win last week.”
The Monarchs enter Friday’s match anticipating JMU to play them tougher and tighter than they did in February.
“We know that Madison is gonna come out and really fight,” King said. “We already beat them once, so they’ve got the extra motivation and that’s gonna make them tougher to beat again.
Still, the Monarchs feel they should prevail if they play to their full potential.
“It’s just about going out and trying to really put out full effort, and not expect anything easy,” King said. “We like how we match up against them, but of course everyone needs to play well. At the college level everyone can be competitive.”
King will not play in the CAA’s for ODU, finishing the season just outside of the top eight as a freshman.
As it has been for the Dukes all year, the doubles point will be vital if Madison is to earn the win over ODU.
“It’s huge,” assistant coach John Snead said. “That’s what we count on to get the match goin’, to get the good start. A lot of times our matches come down to one point, just winning that doubles match.”
Smith feels the Dukes should get the doubles point against ODU, “But after that I think it will be real hard to get two or three points in singles, just because they have a real solid team all the way down,” he said.
If it can get by ODU, Madison will likely get No. 2 seed William & Mary in the second round Saturday.
Women’s tennis will also be in Newport News for the CAAs this weekend. The woman will begin a day earlier than the men, when they take on George Mason today.
Junior Anna Khoor was named CAA player of the week last week. She was one of the few bright spots of the Dukes 1-2 record over the week. She went 3-0 in No. 3 singles play.
On the year, the Dukes were 8-11 with a 1-4 record in the CAA. They drew the No. 8 seed in the conference tournament, as Mason earned the No. 9 seed.
If they get by GMU, they will face No. 1 seed William & Mary on Friday. The Tribe is currently ranked No. 22 nationally.
