Dukes Flame-retardant

Liberty falls to JMU in Dukes’ final home match

Jonathan Taylor / contributing photographer Junior No. 2 player Kristin Nordstrom was seeing nothing but the ball Tuesday when she defeated her opponent 6-1, 6-0.

After losing their two singles matches, seniors Kristen Veith and Rebecca Vanderelst paired up to win their doubles match and bring a happy ending to Senior Day for the JMU women’s tennis team.

JMU defeated Liberty University 5-2 overall — the only two losses ironically coming from the two seniors who were being celebrated Tuesday afternoon.

"We both were a little nervous," Veith said. "We felt a little extra pressure since it was Senior Day."

Vanderelst said, "Even though we lost our singles matches, winning doubles together for one last time on our home courts meant more to both of us."

Due to the weather, the team was unsure throughout the day if the match was even going to be held. After deciding to play, the teams agreed to hold the singles matches before the doubles. Switching the order of play threw a different element into the match.

"You get into a certain mentality for doubles," JMU coach Maria Malerba said. "Playing doubles first helps a lot of the girls relax, and on days like today, it is hard to be warmed up and mentally ready. It was especially hard because the girls still weren’t sure if there was even still going to be a match at 12:15 today."

While playing singles first did throw off a couple of the players, it certainly had no effect on junior Kristin Nordstrom and sophomore Lauren Graham. Nordstrom defeated Andreea Cotuna 6-1, 6-1 and Graham beat Onastazia DeLuca 6-0, 6-0.

The win at home Tuesday improved the team’s record to 9-1 on the season.

With four out of six singles wins and victories in all three doubles, the Dukes are looking strong heading into two Colonial Athletic Association matches this weekend. They will play at the University of Delaware and at George Mason University.

"We only have conference matches left in the regular season, and we want to sweep them," Vanderelst said. "Our team should be confident, we’ve been playing really well."

Vanderelst and Veith are on a mini-winning streak, having three wins since Saturday. However, winning streaks can’t be mentioned without naming sophomore Mary Napier.

Napier is now 10-0 this season at the No. 5 spot. Her doubles partner, junior Kristin Nordstrom, is 9-1 at the No. 2 position. At No. 2 doubles, Napier and Nordstrom are 9-1, with their only loss coming from the University of Richmond.

As the CAA tournament approaches, the two seniors on the team realize that their days playing at JMU are numbered.

"This team is so special," Veith said. "We knew that we wanted to come out here today, and after singles, we knew we didn’t want to have our last home match end on a bad note."

Ending on bad notes is not something the Dukes have done this season — and for Veith and Vanderelst, they finished their last home match ever in the best way possible, with a win — together.