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jmu spring Sports Preview february 1, 2024
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HEY DUKES,
we want to let you in on a secret. The best place for banking isn’t a bank at all!
CommonWealth One is JMU’s trusted, full-service credit union, and student banking is better here. We’re conveniently located on campus and offer everything you might need financially as a student. What we don’t have? Excessive and unnecessary fees. When it comes to handling your finances as a student, we’ve got your back with:
Savings Account
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To open an account or learn more about JMU Student Perks, which include special events, free food and prizes, visit cofcu.org/DUKES or stop by our branch in The Union (next to the post office).
The Union (Next to the Post Office) Monday – Friday: 9:00 am – 5:00 pm
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WHAT’S INSIDE Peterson’s final ride Lacrosse freshmen faces
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All-American dream Spring sports photos
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One last quest
Peterson looks to complete trophy case with national championship in final JMU season By HAYDEN HUNDLEY The Breeze
of bringing the Dukes their first national championship since 2018.
With its season on the line, No. 7-seeded JMU lacrosse trails Maryland 12-8 with 6:11 remaining in the third quarter of the second round of the 2023 NCAA Tournament after the Terrapins scored six of the last seven goals. The Dukes need a spark — so the team looks to then-junior all-American attacker Isabella Peterson. She bulldozes through Maryland’s USA Lacrosse Preseason National Defender of the Year, graduate senior Abby Bosco, drawing a penalty while plummeting face-first into the ground after scoring an off-handed goal with 12:47 left in the game on the backs of Peterson’s seven goals and two assists. Peterson needed help from her teammates to get up after the collision, but it didn’t stop her from scoring the next goal with 11:16 left, another at 6:21 and the game-tying score with 2:04 to go, en route to a 15-14 comeback win for JMU. “She’s just clearly a competitor,” Inside Lacrosse Women Manager Alyssa Cometti said. “She’s not afraid of the big moments. You’ve seen her stepping up when games are on the line, which I think sometimes is even more difficult as the top player on the team where your opponent is zeroed in on you.” Peterson is now returning for her fifth season in hopes
When Peterson grew up alongside her younger sister, Jordan — a sophomore attacker for JMU — their dad, Eric, would show them a binder of motivational quotes to live by. Eric thought his daughters never paid any attention to them, but now they’ll occasionally finish his sentences whenever he starts saying one of the quotes to prove they were internalizing them the whole time. Both Jordan and Isabella said they attribute their success to their dad’s binder. “‘There’s never a crowd on the extra mile,’” Isabella said. “‘Champions are made in the offseason.’ I think those are the two that I’ve lived by, and I have told my teammates about following every season. In order to become good, it doesn’t just happen, you have to put in the work.” Isabella attended high school and grew up in Hereford, Maryland, a rural part of Baltimore County. She said she and her former teammates used to call their home field the “cornfield” because it would be “buggy, muddy” and “half dirt.” When she returned for the summer, she remembered her brand-new pair of cleats turning brown after one practice on the surface. She said the environment she grew up in along with her family allowed her to possess “blue-collar grit.”
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“It’s the idea that you deserve nothing,” Eric said. “You have to go out and earn everything that you get. That’s just part of the mentality.” Eric, who played football at Towson (1990-95), said his favorite word is “grit.” He said he believes JMU embodies the word’s meaning because the school doesn’t get the attention of national media like blueblood programs such as Boston College or North Carolina, despite JMU being one of seven teams in the past 20 years to win a national championship. Even though last season she was named a USA Lacrosse Magazine First Team All-American and Tewaaraton Award finalist, which goes to the best player in the country, Isabella isn’t a stranger to a lack of attention.
Proving everyone wrong
She scored 250 goals and stood at 6-feet coming out of high school, but Isabella said “nobody wanted her” besides JMU, her only offer. “I just felt like she could be bigger, faster and stronger than everybody else,” head coach Shelley Klaes said. “There were some athletes that people were questioning whether they could move with that size, and I just loved the way Bella moved. I felt like if she kept up with her training regimen, she would be able to use every inch, every centimeter, of that body to help us.” Peterson’s No. 1 school at the time was Penn State, but it only saw her as a FOGO (face-off, go-off ) player, and it didn’t offer her a guaranteed spot on its roster. Klaes had bigger plans for Isabella, telling her that she could be the “face of the program.” While the rest of the country questioned Isabella’s game, Klaes said she saw a raw athlete whose blue-collar background was a “perfect” complement to her program. “I think that from the get-go she wanted to prove not only to herself, her family, her teammates but to the country that she had something inside of her that just needed to be let out,” Klaes said. Klaes said she knew “out of the gate” Isabella would be special from her presence in practice and stellar freshman season in 2020, which was cut short by COVID-19. Since joining the Dukes that year, Isabella has started 62 of 63 career games, and in 2023 broke Gail Decker’s (2000-04) single-season record for goals in a season by 10 with 91, points record with 114 and her career points (275) and goal (223) records. “I’m glad that no one wanted me,” Peterson said. “I think it just added fuel to my fire. Like ‘Okay, you don’t want me? I’m going to show you what you’re missing.’” While Isabella prepared for the Dukes’ NCAA Tournament first-round matchup against Army, Klaes let her know there was a phone call coming for her. The call came from a Tewaaraton selection committee member, who informed Isabella that she was selected as a finalist
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for college lacrosse’s most prestigious individual award. Tears filled her eyes, and she said she instantly called her parents. Isabella said when she heard the news, it was “the best feeling in the world.” She was the first finalist for JMU since 2018, when attacker Kristen Gaudian’s (2015-18) 96-point season led the Dukes to a national championship. Klaes said learning about Isabella being a finalist is the “pinnacle” of a coach’s experience because not one athlete can receive that level of recognition without a successful team around them. “I’m just so proud of her,” Klaes said. “I think that she’s worked for this. She’s showing how hungry she is, and the fact that the team wants to work for her shows the kind of competitor she is. She’s not alone on an island in this program.” While Isabella will already end her lacrosse career with a stocked trophy case, all of those awards as of right now, other than a CAA championship in 2021, are individual accolades. In high school, Isabella and Jordan competed in multiple basketball and lacrosse state championships but finished as runners-up in all of those competitions, which Eric said still “pisses them off.” “[The national championship] has definitely been a dialogue on our team,” Jordan said. “Just knowing that the first step is believing that we can accomplish it — having big goals and knowing about all the extra work we have to put in to get there.” For Isabella, extra work isn’t an option, which is a mentality she’s trying to provide for high school- and middle schoolaged girls with her personal training program. Isabella created her website and ran her first clinic last year by herself. After her lacrosse career is over, Isabella wants to be a financial advisor but said she’s hopeful to play in the Athletes Unlimited professional women’s lacrosse league as well as for the U.S. women’s national team. But right now, she’s focused on the Dukes’ opening game Feb. 10 against No. 3 North Carolina — and to start her quest one last time for her first championship. CONTACT Hayden Hundley at hundlehf@dukes.jmu.edu. For more lacrosse coverage, follow the sports desk on X @TheBreezeSports.
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‘Big bopper’ KK Mathis looks to build off stellar freshman campaign By SARABETH ELLIS The Breeze
After watching second baseman KK Mathis’ standout freshman year, a father of another standout Duke had a simple yet complex question for her. “My dad is asking KK Mathis how she hits an outside ball so well because he wants my 12-year-old sister to hit like KK Mathis,” senior pitcher Alissa Humphrey said. “I think that just goes to show how inspiring she is.” Mathis said she knew she wanted to be a softball player at 8 years old, when she began playing travel. She started off as a pitcher but made the decision her junior year of high school to focus on hitting to get recruited. Freshly graduated from high school and committed to play for the Dukes in fall 2022, Mathis thought her pitching days were behind her — until JMU assistant coach Libby Bowman gave her a call, asking her to revamp her pitching training in case the team needed her in the upcoming season. While some players might hesitate at the idea, Mathis took it in stride and threw a couple games as a pitcher during the fall of her freshman season. She continued to train in practices as a pitcher last fall, but pitching isn’t what made her a First Team All-Sun Belt selection or a finalist for the NFCA Tucci/ NFCA Division I National Freshman of the Year — it was her hitting. In her first season with the Dukes, Mathis led the team with 48 hits and 41 RBIs. She also led in doubles with 13 and had the highest batting average on the team at .336. On Feb. 26, she had five hits against North Carolina State, setting a program record. JMU head coach Loren LaPorte said Mathis’ hitting is what set her apart in the recruitment process, and is a large part of her role on the team. “We need her to be the one that hits the most home runs and doubles on the team,” LaPorte said of Mathis, JMU softball’s firstever top 20 recruit. “That’s really one of the biggest things that stood out to me in recruiting her was her ability to put up big numbers, but to do it when it matters. She’s got to be our big bopper in the lineup.” Although for LaPorte, Mathis’ hitting is only one of many things she brings to the team. “She’s a very intellectual hitter. I can see KK being a very, very good coach because of her knowledge of the game,” LaPorte said. “She’s not just a good ball player — she has extremely high knowledge, and she is the leader.” Mathis’ work ethic also makes her great, Humphrey said — “I think KK is probably
one of the best teammates I’ve ever had.” “I’m inspired by KK — she gives you everything she’s got,” Humphery said. “If she has barely anything in the tank, you’re going to get every single bit of that.” While Mathis had a successful freshman season, she noted that playing college softball didn’t come easily to her initially. “Last year, I had a really rough start in the first month,” Mathis said. “I just put a lot of pressure on myself that didn’t need to be added because I was already in a big role. I didn’t allow myself to fail and learn.” Mathis said she turned to her faith when she was struggling at the start of the season and said it’s what allowed her to make peace with the situation and begin to turn her performance around. “I started praying, and the Lord gave me peace about it,” Mathis said. “That’s when I started playing good that last half of the season, and that’s when everything started to ramp up for me. And God blessed me to have a good end of the year and good season.” Mathis’ faith is something her teammates have found inspirational. “I just think she’s great to go to for on-thefield [and] off-the-field advice,” Humphrey said. “She’s super strong in her faith, which is super inspiring too. She dedicates so much of her time to her faith but also at the same time, she’s there when anyone needs her.” Mathis started all 47 games at second base last season and had a .961 fielding percentage. This year, she’s ranked No. 12 in Division I Softball’s Preseason Middle Infielder Power Rankings. Looking to this upcoming season, Mathis said she wants to improve as much as possible and top last season’s performance. “I’m excited for the challenge for myself to see if I can do better than what I did last year,” Mathis said. “I’m just not ready to settle and eager for more, so that’s what I’m most excited for this year.” With so much success in her first season with the Dukes, Mathis has big goals in place for herself. “We have the wall out there with our four allAmericans, and that’s honestly one of my biggest goals since I was a little girl, was go be an allAmerican, to leave my mark on this program,” she said. “I want to leave it better than I found it.” CONTACT Sarabeth Ellis at ellis2sp@dukes. jmu.edu. For more softball coverage, follow the sports desk on X @TheBreezeSports.
“She’s not just a good ball player — she has extremely high knowledge, and she is the leader.” Head coach Loren LaPorte
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Preview | Softball looks for more balanced production in 2024 By PRESTON COMER The Breeze
After finishing sixth in the Sun Belt last season (28-19, 13-11 Sun Belt), JMU softball is getting ready to kick off its 2024 season against Ball State on Feb. 9 at 11 a.m. This game will be the first of five for the Dukes in the River City Leadoff in Jacksonville, Florida. “This team is very experienced and very comfortable,” head coach Loren LaPorte said. “We have more depth and understand each other’s strengths.” The Dukes finished fifth in the Sun Belt in batting average at .277 and second in the conference in home runs with 63. Former first baseman Hannah Shifflett (2019-23) led the Dukes with 18 and was second on the team with 37 RBIs. With last year being Shifflett’s final in Harrisonburg, LaPorte isn’t looking for someone specific to fill Shifflett’s shoes but wants to see production from the team as a whole. “I think if we get accumulation from everyone increasing their numbers, then we will find more success than if we relied on one or two players,” LaPorte said. Even without Shifflett, JMU has an established young duo of sophomore infielder KK Mathis and junior infielder Jasmine Hall. As a freshman last year, Mathis led the team in batting average, RBIs and hits, while only trailing Shifflett in home runs. Hall finished last year with a .290 batting average and was third on the team in home runs with eight. Hall said she expects lots of production from herself this season and wants to see herself provide more offense. “I really expect big things from myself this season,” Hall said. “I think I can make a big difference with RBIs and extra base hits this year.” Hall also has big expectations for
the Dukes as a whole heading into the season. “I think we have something to prove this year,” Hall said. “We are experienced and ready to get after it. We have to trust what we have and show our confidence at the plate.” LaPorte also said JMU isn’t relying on one pitcher this year. She added that with senior pitcher Alissa Humphrey, sophomore pitcher Kylah Berry, junior pitcher Rebecca Muh and freshman pitcher Kristen Fleet, there’s a lot of versatility in the rotation. Humphrey and LaPorte shared excitement for the depth of their pitching rotation. They both said they believe JMU will be strong from the circle this spring because of their depth. Humphrey led JMU in the circle last season with a 3.08 ERA and 129 strikeouts. This year, Humphrey said that she wants to go all out for her last season but knows the Dukes need more than one arm in the circle. “I’m going to go all out for myself this year,” Humphrey said. “I want to leave it all on the field for myself, my parents, this program and my teammates.” LaPorte echoed Humphrey’s enthusiasm about the upcoming season. “I’m excited about this team,” LaPorte said. “These things take time, but I think we’ve done that.” CONTACT Preston Comer at comerps@ dukes.jmu.edu. For more softball coverage, follow the sports desk on X @TheBreezeSports.
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2023-24 Building off what’s been a historic year so far for the Dukes, programs like preseason No. 6 JMU lacrose are looking to bring home hardware in the coming months
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Men’s golf tees up for spring slate after strong fall season By EMMA SINGLETON The Breeze
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JMU men’s golf is gearing up for its spring season, which begins in mid-February. In the fall, a first-place finish in the VCU Shootout on Sept. 18 highlighted the Dukes’ performances. JMU lost in the tournament’s playoffs, but its momentum continued after VCU and followed with two second-place finishes at both the Virtues Intercollegiate and The Carolina Cup later in the fall. “It shows a lot about our consistency that we had over the fall,” sophomore Václav Tichý said. “Every tournament, we had someone who showed up.” Tichý is someone to look out for this spring. His best result from the 2022-23 season was a 7-under-par at the UNCW Seahawk Intercollegiate on March 27. That tournament was JMU’s best team finish that year at 13-under-par, landing them in fourth place. Overall, Tichý shot an average of 1-over-par for the entire season in 10 tournaments. Tichý said he’s excited to compete this spring and “get the blood and adrenaline flowing again.” It may seem as though taking a four-month break would negatively impact a team’s momentum; however, head coach Carter Cheves and players said it aids them — allowing JMU to work hard and get back into tournament form. “Right now, we are trying to get our feel back off of being on holiday break and getting our feet underneath us,” Cheves said. “[We’re] working on our mobility and strength phases before we get into qualifying and tournament golf. These guys have done a really good job with getting themselves ready individually, and now it is just being together again and being ready to compete against one another before competing against other teams.” During the winter, the Dukes practiced and tried to better themselves every day, while also working to improve their
chemistry. They’ve also been practicing techniques and basics to ensure they don’t forget the fundamentals. “As a team still working on confidence, I think last semester helped with good placement as a team still just working on believing that we can win every tournament we go to,” sophomore Owen Kose said. Back again this season alongside Tichý is Kose. Having his best individual result — a 6-under-par — at the 2022 VCU Intercollegiate two falls ago, Kose said he’s been working on his short game over the break, but doesn’t have many concerns about his driving. “[My strength] has always been longer game: driver, irons, ball-striking,” Kose said, “and that’s been my whole life.” Cheves has been coaching at JMU for over 10 years and recently signed a contract extension through the 2027-28 season. He started as an assistant coach in 2013 and moved up to head coach in 2019. As head coach, Cheves has overseen some of JMU’s best years, with the 2021-22 season being the fourth lowest single season scoring average in program history. “I’ve been here for about 10 years now, and I’ve enjoyed every part of it,” Cheves said. “I love being a Duke, obviously, and I’m just happy to see these guys graduate and start with the new golfers in the future. Being able to stay in Harrisonburg is a real blessing.” JMU’s first tournament of the season is the Loyola Intercollegiate in Goodyear, Arizona, from Feb. 25-27. The Dukes have six team tournaments in their spring schedule, capped off by the Sun Belt Championship in Madison, Mississippi, beginning April 22. CONTACT Emma Singleton at singleej@dukes.jmu.edu. For more men’s golf coverage, follow the sports desk on X at @TheBreezeSports.
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Freshmen in full bloom
Lacrosse first-year class comes to JMU with long list of accolades
By MAEGHAN STOCKLI contributing writer
esy of JMU A ourt thl sc et o t o ics Ph
Maddie Weybrecht, defender, No. 2 • 2023 American Select Watchlist • 2022 Long Island American Select Team • 2022 LILJ Long Island First Team, allcounty and all-division honors • New York State Public High School Class C 2021 State Champion
Aly Yee-Jenkins, midfielder, No. 4
Paige Glantz, midfielder, No. 14 • Section V Class A 2021 State Champion, runner-up in 2022 • All-Greater Rochester and All-County as a sophomore in 2021 • All-rookie in 2020
Lilly Kelley, midfielder, No. 15
• 2022 District Player of the Year • 2022 USA Lacrosse All-American • 2021 USA Lacrosse DC Region 1 Team • 2020 & 2022 WPLL/AU Future Regional Team
• 2023 4A Maryland State Champion • 2022 High School All-American • 2021 Under Armour All-American Baltimore Team
Ava Beckly, midfielder, No. 5
Emily Simkin, attacker, No. 22
• 2024 US Women’s U20 Training Team • USA Select Women’s U18 Team • 2022 First Team All-PCL (Philadelphia Catholic League) • 2021, 2022 All-Delco honors
Kaitlyn Carney, midfielder, No. 7 • 2022 USA Lacrosse High School All-American • 2021, 2022 Under Armour AllAmerican New England Team • 2021 New England American Select Team
• Under Armour All-American all three years of high school (2020-22) • 2022 Inside Lacrosse Committed Academy All-Tournament Team • Back-to-back Georgia 7A State Champion (2022, 2023)
Emily Evans, goalkeeper, No. 25 • Under Armour All-American Senior Watchlist • 2021 Under Armour All-American National Championship AllTournament Team
Bridget Wilson, midfielder, No. 9
Hannah Lewis, midfielder, No. 27
• 2022 US Lacrosse All-American • 2020-22 Under Armour All-American DC Team • VHSL 2021, 2022 Class 5 State Champion • 2022 VA Regional Player of the Year
• 2024 Puerto Rican Women’s U20 Training Team • All-division, all-county and allconference honors her junior and senior years of high school
CONTACT Maeghan Stockli at stocklma@dukes.jmu.edu. For more lacrosse coverage, follow the sports desk on X @TheBreezeSports.
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Preview | Baseball looks ahead to tough spring slate With formidable schedule, Dukes bank on chemistry for team success By LUKE FAIRCLOTH contributing writer
Early season optimism is everywhere these days around JMU baseball, with the start of the regular season just over two weeks away. Last season was JMU’s first year competing in the Sun Belt, one of the premier baseball conferences. The Dukes put together a respectable 31-25 record (15-13 Sun Belt). As junior pitcher Todd Mozoki said, the 2023 campaign showed how good the Dukes can be — and that they can be among the best in the Sun Belt in 2024. “Last year, we didn’t know exactly what to expect,” Mozoki said. “This year, we know we’re good enough to be a top team in the Sun Belt, so we have very high expectations.” This season will be JMU’s ninth with head coach Marlin Ikenberry at the helm. The Dukes have put together a few good seasons during his tenure, with the best being last year’s. However, the Dukes have been overall mediocre under Ikenberry, with a 184-184 record. In those seasons, JMU has struggled against top-tier teams and has not advanced to the NCAA Tournament since 2011. “We have a lot more confidence going into those [difficult] games this year,” junior outfielder Fenwick Trimble said. “Against those top teams, nothing changes for us. We train at a high level every day at practice, and that’s the standard for us.” JMU brings back plenty of starters from its 2023 roster. It returns its top six arms in terms of innings
pitched, as well as quality position players such as Trimble, sophomore infielder Mike Mancini and junior catcher Jason Schiavone. “The team chemistry is everything,” Mazoki said. “You can have a lot of good players, but if you don’t work as a team, you’re never going to be great. We do everything together and we do everything for each other, and when you have that mindset, it will lead to success.” JMU faces a difficult schedule in 2024, including two top 25 teams — Arkansas and Coastal Carolina — on the road. The Dukes also play in the same conference as another top 25 team, Southern Miss, which JMU went 0-4 against last season, including a 7-1 defeat in the second round of the Sun Belt tournament. “It excites us a lot with the challenge of the schedule,” Trimble said. “You win those games, and it’s going to give you a better chance for the postseason. It’s going to be a lot of fun.” With it being Mozoki’s third season at JMU, he will be stepping into a bigger role, not just on the mound but also as a leader off it. “Since I have experience, I definitely have a bigger leadership role in helping out the [other players],” he said, “showing them how much work goes into everything to make us successful as a team.” JMU opens up the season Feb. 16 in a fourgame series against No. 3 Arkansas. Mozoki made it clear he thinks JMU can put up a fight. “We talk about it a lot as a team,” Mozoki said. “Everyone needs to believe we can compete and we can beat these good teams.” CONTACT Luke Faircloth at faircllr@ dukes.jmu.edu. For more baseball coverage, follow the sports desk on X @TheBreezeSports.
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Women’s tennis serves up solid start to spring season with new coaches This has been women's tennis head coach Tyson Thomas' first season coaching the Dukes. After losing to U.Va. and Wisconsin, then winning against Northern Illinois and Howard, Thomas and several of his players expressed optimism for future matches. Photos by Kaiden Bridges / The Breeze
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JMU’s women tennis is back and ready for some action. With four of their 2024 matches completed, the Dukes sit at 2-2 and seem to have found their footing. The Dukes went on the road for their first two matches; they lost 7-0 to U.Va., then 6-1 against Wisconsin. They are on a twogame win streak after scoring 5-2 against both Northern Illinois on Jan. 21 and Howard University on Sunday, and arehoping to extend the win streak against Missouri on Saturday. With the most wins in doubles, redshirt senior Cate Boerman has been a force for the Dukes in recent matches. Against Howard, she won both her doubles and singles matches. Boerman’s singles match ended with her winning both sets (6-3, 6-1), and she said she’s ready to showcase her skills and technique once again this season from both an individual and team perspective. “I think the biggest thing is to just keep doing what we’re doing,” Boerman said. “Keep focusing on doubles, I know we’re kind of in the middle of some things — people in and out of the lineup — so continuing to focus on that and improving in that, and taking the doubles point early and then letting the energy roll back into singles. I think that’s when we play our best tennis.” Head coach Tyson Thomas is new to the Dukes’ staff this season — he's coached Division I women’s tennis for over a decade now. He was most recently an assistant coach at Penn during the 2022-23 season before heading to JMU. He began coaching college tennis at Nebraska Omaha and later became an assistant coach at U.Va. Thomas has a different approach, saying his focus for the spring season is to have fun. “We want to work hard; we want to be really intense; we want to compete; we want to win matches,” Thomas said. “But we want to do all of those things while we are having fun.” The team's home opener was in the East Campus Tennis Courts (campus bubble) across from the University Recreation Center (UREC), which is a change from its usual outdoor courts on Main Campus. “It feels really good, I haven’t had too much experience in the bubble just because I was injured towards the end of the fall, so I didn't get to practice too much by the time I did get to play in it,” Boerman said. “It’s really fun, and I think it creates a really good atmosphere just being so close. Especially only having three courts, we have a really great time.” JMU players said they can feel the support of their fans and enjoy the fact that people are coming out to watch. “I feel like we all like our home courts, and it's comfortable for us,” junior Alexandra Prudente said. “We do get a lot of support,compared to other years, so being surrounded by people we love.” The Dukes take on Missouri this weekend in Lynchburg, Virginia, at 10 a.m. They’ll have a short turnaround to play Liberty the next day at noon. CONTACT Emma Singleton at singleej@dukes.jmu.edu. For more women’s tennis coverage, follow the sports desk on X at @TheBreezeSports.
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CONTACT Ella Stozky at breezephotography@gmail.com. For more multimedia content, visit breezejmu.org/multimedia.
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