Jackie Carleton was having a tough winter.
She was battling tendinitis in her foot. She cramped in the deciding match of Duke’s most recent loss to William & Mary. And she had not won in a dual singles match all indoor season.
Last week, as Duke moved to the outdoor courts for the first time in 2005, Carleton finally looked like the heralded All-American transfer who had been ranked as high as No. 14 at UCLA.
Even though some Blue Devils struggled with the outdoor conditions and the team failed to win a single doubles point during its three-match road trip, Carleton gave Duke the lift it needed. The junior won all three of her singles matches at the No. 2 spot as the Blue Devils went 3-0.
“This will help her confidence heading into the rest of the season,” head coach Jamie Ashworth said of Carleton’s performance.
The No. 7 Blue Devils (10-3) defeated No. 15 Texas, No. 28 Arizona State and No. 32 UNLV over spring break.
Ashworth said his team usually struggles in its first outdoor match, but other than losing the doubles point against Texas (8-3), the Blue Devils handled the change well. Duke gained a 3-2 advantage over the Longhorns and put Carleton in position to win the overall contest for the second time in as many matches.
Carleton battled to win the first set in a tiebreaker, and the second was less competitive as the junior dispatched her opponent 6-2.
After defeating Texas, the Blue Devils found themselves in another close contest with Arizona State (5-4) three days later at the Whiteman Tennis Center in Tempe, Ariz. For the first time all season, weather became a factor.
“The conditions were tough as it was very warm and windy,” Ashworth said. “With conditions like that, we talked about our mental toughness—being tough and to not let the elements bother you.”
Katie Blaszak and Clelia Deltour had to exert that toughness as the Blue Devils trailed 3-2. Both came through in their three-set matches despite the heat. Deltour played an up-and-down match, beating her opponent 6-0, 5-7, 6-3. Then Blaszak won her 15th match of the year, edging out her opponent 7-6, 5-7, 6-3 to give Duke another 4-3 victory.
Although Arizona State dominated doubles play, the Blue Devils came back to take a 2-1 lead after Saras Arasu and Carleton won their respective matches. The Sun Devils responded by defeating Kristin Cargill and Jennifer Zika to go ahead 3-2, putting the pressure on Blaszak and Deltour.
“In singles, we did a good job of being tough,” Ashworth said. “Saras getting the quick win was big for us.”
Duke concluded its road trip with a solid singles showing in Las Vegas where the Blue Devils took five of six singles matches to defeat UNLV 5-2.
UNLV (7-4) had an early 1-0 lead as Duke dropped the doubles point for the fourth consecutive match.
“In doubles, we have a lot of work to do,” said Ashworth.
The Blue Devils responded by winning at the three, four and five singles spots to go on top 3-1. Blaszak lost her match before Tory Zawacki and Carleton won their matches in three sets for the win.
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