PEACHTREE CITY, Ga. – No. 2 James Madison punched its ticket to the title match of the 2023 Sun Belt Women’s Tennis Championship with a tough 4-2 victory against No. 6 Marshall in the semifinals on Saturday afternoon at the Peachtree City Tennis Center.

The Dukes improved to 15-7 on the year and move on to Sunday’s title bout against top-seeded Old Dominion. The Thundering Herd ended their first season as a league member with a 16-9 overall mark.

Daniela Voloh tied JMU’s all-time combined wins record, as she won both doubles and singles to match former Duke Jona Roka (2016-21) with 165 career total victories. Voloh already owns the JMU singles wins record, as her triumph Saturday was the 91st of her career.

Teaming with Voloh and earning the clinching point for the second straight day, Daria Munteanu also went 2-0 on the afternoon. Daria Afanasyeva provided the other singles win, while Kylie Moulin and Ines Oliveira secured the doubles point on court one.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Doubles Play
• JMU won on courts one and two to take the early 1-0 lead.

• JMU controlled the tempo from the start on court two, as Munteanu and Voloh cruised to a 6-1 victory against Sophia Hurrion and Aisling McGrane.

• Tied at 4-4 on court one, JMU broke the Marshall serve, and the tandem of Kylie Moulin and Oliveira rallied from love-40 on their service game to upend Johanna Strom and Emma Vanderheyden, 6-4.

• On court three, the match between JMU’s Afanasyeva and Reka Matko and MU’s Gabrielle Clairotte and Rieke Gillar went unfinished while tied at 5-5.

Singles Play
• The Thundering Herd made it a 1-1 contest on court six, where Sophia Hurrion downed Hope Moulin, 6-2, 6-1.

• JMU regained the lead on court three, where Voloh cruised to a 6-1, 6-2 triumph versus Doroteja Joksovic to tie Roka’s program record.

• Marshall once again tied it at 2-2 on court five, as Andjela Lopicic defeated Oliveira in straight sets, at 6-3, 6-0.

• The Dukes grabbed the lead for good on court two by way of an Afanasyeva straight-set triumph. A week after falling to the same foe in Harrisonburg, the JMU senior used a quick start to take down Vanderheyden, 6-2, 6-3.

• Munteanu provided late-match heroics for the second straight day, as she held off McGrane on court four by scores of 7-6 (3), 7-5 for the clincher. Like Afanasyeva, Munteanu avenged a loss from a week ago, as she managed to win just two games against McGrane in the regular-season finale on April 22.

• In a battle of First Team All-Sun Belt competitors, Kylie Moulin led Strom, 7-6 (4), 4-4 (15-love) on court one when the match concluded.

BACK IN THE TITLE MATCH
• JMU returns to a conference title match for the fifth time in the past six championships it has competed in in 2016.

• The Dukes made their first conference title berth in 2016 and are two-time tournament champions, winning the program’s first two in 2019 and 2021.

• Though former conference competitors in the Colonial Athletic Association, this will mark the first time JMU and ODU have met in a championship final.

UP NEXT
JMU meets Old Dominion in the Sun Belt Championship final on Sunday, April 30 at 1 p.m. at the Peachtree City Tennis Center.

— JMU Athletics —