The freezing weather put some Duke players under the weather, but neither the snow nor the Bulldogs could slow the Blue Devils down on their way to victory this weekend.
No. 16 Duke topped Mississippi State 4-1 to claim the ITA Kick-Off Weekend championship at Sheffield Indoor Tennis Center Saturday night, on the heels of a 4-0 sweep of Portland Friday night in the semifinals. The Bulldogs boasted several ranked players in their lineup and entered the matching riding the momentum of a 4-0 sweep against Florida State, but the Blue Devils came up on top with a dominant doubles performance and three hard-fought singles victories, advancing to the ITA Indoor Championships tournament Feb. 5-8.
“I knew we would play better than we did yesterday [against Portland],” Duke head coach Jamie Ashworth said. “We had some people on the court today that hadn’t played a lot of matches. We have three freshmen out here who have never been in this kind of situation. So it was good—I thought we played well and we played the best doubles all year.”
At the third doubles position, juniors Alyssa Smith and Chalena Scholl fell behind 0-1 early against Kristina Vozniak and Jennifer Brown, the No. 53 duo in the country. But the Blue Devils (3-0) bounced back quickly and won six straight games to dispatch their opponents.
On court one, the No. 26 tandem of Beatrice Capra and Ellyse Hamlin committed multiple unforced errors early in their contest against Georgiana Patrasc and Madison Harrison. After trailing 0-2, Capra and Hamlin switched between two-up and two-back formations frequently to provide better defensive stability and remained aggressive when the opponents hit a slow ball across the net. The strategy paid off, as the pairing marched to a 6-3 victory and secured the doubles point for the Blue Devils.
On court two, the matchup between Kaitlyn McCarthy and Samantha Harris against Jasmine Lee and Anastasia Rentouli was abandoned with the Blue Devils leading 5-3.
The loss in the doubles forced the Bulldogs (3-1) into a corner heading into singles, but they were not ready to throw in the towel without a fight. On court six, freshman Jessica Ho dealt Brown a swift 6-2, 6-1 loss to extend Duke’s lead to 2-0. But that was the only easy victory for the Blue Devils for the rest of the night.
On court two, No. 29 McCarthy dominated Harrison in the first set with a 6-3 win, but then struggled to close out the sophomore in the second set. After trailing 4-5, the Duke freshman had a chance to even the game with her turn to serve upcoming. But Harrison took three points in a row and handed McCarthy a 4-6 loss. With the match tied 1-1, McCarthy regrouped and left no room for Harrison to complete the comeback, blitzing through the third frame with a convincing 6-1 win.
“The coaches helped me focus,” McCarthy said. “They helped to keep the nerves to a minimum.... I knew I could do it, and it was just a matter of execution and playing my game. She was a great player, and applause to her for playing so well today. But I think I just played a little bit better in the big moments.”
Court one provided one of the most anticipated duels of the match, that between No. 28 Capra and No. 13 Lee. As was the case in doubles, Capra could not find her rhythm at the beginning of the match, and Lee took full advantage during the baseline rallies, establishing a 3-1 lead. But Duke’s senior captain slowly caught up and became more aggressive returning the ball.
After the first eight games, Capra broke Lee’s serve to claim a decisive 5-4 lead and went on to claim the set. In the second frame, both players tried to outrun the other with their baseline rallies. But Capra sealed the deal 6-3 to clinch the win for the Blue Devils.
On court four, Harris was troubled by a cold and could not keep up with Patrasc, falling 4-6, 5-7 to hand the Bulldogs their only point of the night.
“I thought we were going to have some tough matches,” Ashworth said. “Sam hasn’t been feeling great, but she did a good job of staying on the court and fighting and not letting Mississippi State get a point and get some confidence down on their courts. The girl that [Capra] played...was a really good player, top 15 in the country in individual ranking. I thought [she] played a really smart and disciplined match.”
After the hard-earned victory, the Blue Devils will head to Evanston, Ill., for a dual with Northwestern next Sunday, trying to get Harris back fully healthy as they continue deeper into their spring slate.
“We haven’t been able to practice how we want because of trying to get everybody as healthy as we could,” Ashworth said. “Now we are at the point where we are healthier than we have been really in a year and a half. Now we are at the point where this week we can start working on some things in practice.”
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