HARRISONBURG, Va. – The Towson University women's tennis team dropped its 2021 season opener Friday afternoon, losing to defending Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) champion James Madison, 7-0.
 
JMU finished 10-4 last season, including victories over Maryland and Penn State. Five student-athletes on this year's squad were key contributors when the Dukes captured the 2018-19 CAA title.
 
In doubles, the No. 3 team of junior co-captain Amelia Lawson and sophomore Elessa Jacobs led 5-3, but the Madison duo of Daria Afanasyeva and Amanda Nord rallied to win the final four games of the set. JMU had already won the other two matches to secure the doubles point.
 
In singles action, junior Themis Haliou, playing at No. 1, and Lawson, in the No. 3 spot, won second sets before dropping the third and deciding set. Lawson battled in her match against Natalia Nikolopoulou, the former top junior player from Greece, before losing 6-3, 2-6, 6-4.
 
Records: 

• Towson – 0-1 (0-1 CAA)
• James Madison – 1-0 (1-0 CAA)

 
Doubles Results: 

• 1. Alexis Franco/Natalia Nikolopoulou (JMU) def. Jessica Assenmacher/Alexa Martinez (TOW) 6-1
  2. Jona Roka/Kylie Moulin (JMU) def. Themis Haliou/Lea Kosanovic (TOW) 6-1
  3. Daria Afanasyeva/Amanda Nord (JMU) def. Amelia Lawson/Elessa Jacobs (TOW) 7-5

Singles Results: 

• 1. Daria Afanasyeva (JMU) def. Themis Haliou (TOW) 6-1, 3-6, 6-1
  2. Jona Roka (JMU) def. Alexa Martinez (TOW) 6-2, 6-0
  3. Natalia Nikolopoulou (JMU) def. Amelia Lawson (TOW) 6-3, 2-6, 6-4
  4. Alexis Franco (JMU) def. Jessica Assenmacher (TOW) 6-1, 6-0
  5.  Kylie Moulin (JMU) def. Sarah Pospischill (TOW) 6-0, 6-0
  6.  Amanda Nord (JMU) def. Elessa Jacobs (TOW) 6-0, 7-6 (7-3)

 
Postgame Quote: 
Towson head coach Jamie Peterson: "We had some performances that I was really proud of in terms of competiveness. We were playing a strong team and we put ourselves into positions to win some matches. What I just told the girls was that sometimes in a team match it is 6 or 8 points that can determine the entire match, even in one that ended 7-0. We need to take care of our opportunities. We had a big one being up 5-3 in the doubles match. Although Themis lost 6-1 in the third set, there were four deuce games. We will learn experience from this but need to play a little better next time." 
 
Next Match: 
Towson will head 100 miles south of Harrisonburg to take on Liberty in Lynchburg, Va. tomorrow afternoon. The Flames have started the season 4-0, beating Georgia State (6-1), Mercer (6-1) and Longwood (7-0, 7-0). Saturday's match will be played in the new Liberty Indoor Tennis Center.