The women's tennis team began its spring campaign with a 5-2 victory over Northwestern Saturday. The fourth-ranked Blue Devils quickly jumped to a 3-1 lead over their hosts before struggling to wins four and five.
Duke won the doubles point through wins at the No. 2 and No. 3 spots, an area of the game they have continually been improving. Eleventh-ranked Julie DeRoo and Amanda Johnson cruised to an 8-2 victory over the Wildcats' Jamie Peisel and Stacy Kokx, while Duke's Katie Granson and Julia Smith beat Ruth Barnes and Andrea Yung 8-4.
Kelly McCain pulled a muscle during the warmups, and sat out her singles match after playing doubles. Head coach Jamie Ashworth said that he felt the team could win without McCain and wanted her to rest.
Replacing McCain in the top spot was Johnson, who was pitted against Cristelle Grier. The Wildcat freshman won the first five games of the match en route to a 6-1, 6-4 victory.
The Blue Devils were much stronger at the bottom of the lineup with straight-set wins at the five and six spots. Granson struggled against Barnes in the first set but found her zone in the second winning 7-5, 6-0. Meanwhile, Smith, playing on 10 minutes notice, easily dominated in the second set of her 6-4, 6-1 victory.
The Wildcats earned their final point of the day, though the match had already been awarded to Duke, when sophomore Andrea Yung sneaked past Saras Arasu.
"I expected them to come out nervous," Ashworth said. "They were a little defensive and played like a new team, but once they got comfortable on the court, and kept balls in play, they won fairly easily."
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