Mason men's tennis defeated James Madison, 5-2 at Westwood Country Club in Vienna, Va. The Patriots improve to 2-4 on the season.
The Patriots fought hard after dropping the early doubles point. Aaron Capitel showed up in top form beating JMU's number one player 6-1, 6-2 to tie the match at one all before Joe Hill gave the patriots the momentum with a 6-4, 6-1 victory. The fourth match to finish was Senior Tanner Baine who battled hard to secure a 6-4, 7-6 win giving the Patriots a 3-2 edge. Daniel Gutierrez clinched the match after a tightly contested win at number five singles against Ruzic 7-5, 7-5. The final match of the day was won by Andrew Curtis at number six singles after a come from behind three set victory 0-6, 6-2, 6-4.
“The guys hard work really paid off today, we've had a tough start to the season battling some injuries and strong opponents, but today was a great win for our team and gave us the momentum and confidence we need to start playing at the level we know that we are capable of", commented Jimmy Davis, Associate Head Coach.
Up Next: The Patriots are back in action on Friday March 4th at Montclair Country club against a
tough Valparaiso squad.
Mason 5, JMU 2
Doubles-
1. Stirling/Stitt (JMU) def. Hill/Gutierrez (Mason), 6-4
2. Branth/Moorhead (JMU) def. Lange/Capitel (Mason), 7-5
3. Berdnikoff/Ruzic (JMU) def. Baine/Curtis (Mason), 6-3
Singles-
1. Capitel (Mason) vs. Stirling (JMU), 6-1 6-2
2. Moorhead (JMU) def. Lange (Mason), 6-4 6-1
3. Hill (Mason) vs. Stitt (JMU), 6-4 6-1
4. Baine (Mason) vs. Branth (JMU), 6-4 7-6(4)
5. Gutierrez (Mason) vs. Ruzic (JMU), 7-5 7-5
6. Curtis (Mason) vs. Berdnikoff (JMU), 0-6 6-2 6-4
