Dukes win first Sun Belt game in thriller with Georgia State

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South Georgia

03/25/2023 | 10am

March 25 (Sat) / 10 a.m.

South Georgia

HARRISONBURG, Va. — Rookie Aathreya Mahesh rallied in the final game to help James Madison earn his first Sun Belt Conference men’s tennis victory with a 4-3 triumph over Georgia State Friday afternoon on the courts of east campus tennis.

The Dukes improved to 8-6 on the year and 1-2 in Sun Belt play, while the Panthers fell to 3-12 and 0-2.

It was the second all-time meeting between the teams, and the first in 13 years, as JMU picked up their first victory against GSU.

Mahesh and Edson Sanchez each went 2-0, picking up doubles and singles wins, while Holden Koons also picked up a singles victory.

HOW DID IT HAPPEN
Doubles Play JMU won exciting matches on courts two and three to take a 1-0 lead. The Dukes took the lead on court two, as Julian Lozano and Sanchez crushed Ricardo Batista and Diogo Morais, 6-4. On court three, the duo of Mahesh and Youssef Sadek came back to defeat Gabriele Datei and Edward Tymes, 6-4. The Dukes trailed early but led 5-4, they broke the GSU tandem on a decisive point to clinch the game. On the first court, the fight between Koons and Francisco Sinopoli and Roberts Grinvalds and Diego Padilha remained unfinished at 5-5.

Singles play The teams split the six matches, with the bottom two contesting the deciding third sets. Koons doubled JMU’s lead to 2-0 on the first court, where he earned a 6-2, 6-3 win over Grinvalds. GSU tied the game with wins on courts three and two. Morais initially held off a second-set surge from Sadek, winning the fight, 6-0, 7-6(2), while Datei rallied after one set to defeat Lozano, 3-6, 6- 3, 6-1. JMU regained the lead on court five, as Sanchez won a tough match against Tymes, 6-4, 6-3. The Panthers tied things at 3-3 with a three-set victory on court four. Padilha defeated Sinopoli, 6-3, 4-6, 6-1, winning each of the last five games. On court six, Mahesh found himself in one set and trailing in the second before storming back for a 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 triumph over Batista. In the third and final frame, he was down 3-2 before breaking his GSU opponent twice and winning the last four games.

FOLLOWING
JMU is back in action on Saturday March 25 with their number 69 Georgia Southern. Opening service is set for 10 a.m. on the East Campus tennis courts.

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