Flames Edged by Dukes

The James Madison Dukes defeated the Liberty Flames in a tightly contested match, 4-3, Thursday afternoon at the LU Tennis Courts.

The host Flames, 6-7, opened the match with a sweep in doubles. Both Siim Tuus and Tristan Stayt at No. 1 and Giancarlo Lemmi and Chad Simpson at No. 2 each won their contests, 8-5. The victory for Tuus and Stayt was the team's fourth consecutive win. Lemmi and Simpson won for the fifth consecutive time.

In the No. 3 match, seniors Jose Reyes and Louis Steyn remained unbeaten since being paired as team last week. The pair moved to 4-0 with a 9-8 (4) victory over Greg Vladimirsky and Ville Maaranen.

However, the visiting Dukes, 9-6, took four of the six singles contests for a 4-3 match win. Four of the matches went three sets, with James Madison winning three of them.

Liberty's Tristan Stayt was one of the Flames' two singles victors on the afternoon. Recording his fifth consecutive win, Stayt defeated the Dukes' Mike Smith, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 at No. 1. Steyn collected the other Liberty victory in the No. 5 contest. Steyn won in straight sets, taking a second set tiebreaker, 6-3, 7-6 (4). The win was the fourth consecutive win for the Flames senior.

Liberty travels to Clinton, S.C., Saturday for a Big South Conference match with Presbyterian. Match time is scheduled for 10 a.m.

JMU 4 Liberty 3

Doubles:
1. Tuus/Stayt (LU) def. Smith/King, Matt (JMU) 8-5
2. Lemmi/Simpson (LU) def. Voznenko/Hardy (JMU) 8-5
3. Jose Reyes/Steyn (LU) def. Vladimirsky/Maaranen, Ville (JMU) 9-8 (4)

Singles:
1. Tristan Stayt (LU) def. Mike Smith (JMU) 6-3 4-6 6-4
2. Greg Vladimirsky (JMU) def. Siim Tuus (LU) 7-5 6-3
3. Tommi Nissinen (JMU) def. Giancarlo Lemmi (LU) 7-5, 5-7, 7-5
4. Stephen Hardy (JMU) def. Chad Simpson (LU) 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 (4)
5. Louis Steyn (LU) def. Yarik Voznenko (JMU) 6-3, 7-6 (2)
6. Jovan Milie (JMU) def. Ben Wirth (LU) 4-6, 6-1, 6-3

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