It all came down to one emotional match and Katie Blaszak, a transfer from No. 8 Vanderbilt, pulled out the a three-set victory over Ashley Schellhas (6-4, 6-7, 6-2) to break a 3-3 match tie and earn the Blue Devils a win over the Commodores.
The No. 4 women's tennis team posted its third victory of the season Sunday at the Sheffield Indoor Tennis Center.
After Duke took two of three doubles matches, earning the doubles point, and the three of the four completed singles contests translated into points for the Commodores, Kelly McCain, Duke's top singles player, ranked No. 2 nationally, earned a 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 victory over No. 32 Sarah Riske.
Riske had her way with McCain in the first set, using her height and powerful serve to run the smaller McCain all over the court.
After winning the second set to even the score at one set each, McCain broke Riske's serve in the fifth game of the deciding set and went on to earn a come-from-behind victory.
"You want your best player in that situation," head coach Jamie Ashworth said. "She did a good job coming back and that helped Blaszak at the end because she got a little momentum from Kelly's win."
With the score level, Blaszak then won her first set by breaking Schellhas' serve at 5-4, but then dropped a second set tiebreak to level the match.
"I couldn't have been more nervous," Blaszak said. "I was so nervous and I couldn't get my feet to do what they were supposed to do."
Blaszak took control of the final set with two consecutive service breaks, she continued to pound her opponent with powerful ground strokes until she finally connected on a match point opportunity and was bombarded by her joyous teammates.
"She is a grinder and a fighter," said Ashworth. "That was an emotional match for her after losing the second set and having some match points, I think it is a big step for her emotionally and mentally."
In other singles action, Amanda Johnson fell to Aleke Tsoubanos 6-2, 6-2, and Julia DeRoo lost 6-1, 6-3 in a frustrating match for the senior. After playing a great doubles match, freshman Julia Smith was defeated handily 6-0, 6-1.
The other singles winner for Duke was Katie Granson, who won her match 6-0, 6-2.
"It's a huge victory," McCain said. "Its a momentum change in our season and our team."
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