Duke's early-season travels continued this weekend, as the team competed in the Southern Intercollegiate Championships in Athens, Ga. The Blue Devils smashed, volleyed and lobbed their way to an impressive start in the four-day tournament, which began Friday, but lost their steam in later rounds.
"Overall we're getting there," said assistant coach Ramsey Smith. "We're not exactly where I'd like to see us. We're not setting the world on fire but we're slowing improving, which is the goal."
Duke's two most impressive performers in Athens were freshman Reid Carleton and senior Kiril Dimitrov, each of whom recorded two wins. Carleton fought past Winthrop's Rodrigo Santos, 6-4, 7-5, and Tennessee's Matt Brewer, 6-2, 6-1, before losing to Wake Forest's Cory Parr, 6-2, 6-3. Dimitrov defeated Winthrop's Vinicius Bortolatto, 6-4, 6-4, and eased past USC Upstate's Javier Tori, 6-1, 6-0, before going down in straight sets to Nate Schnugg of Georgia.
"Kiril played really well the first two matches and ran into a really tough player in the third round," Smith said.
In other action, sophomore Dylan Arnould lost 6-3, 6-4 to Mississippi State's Phillip Frayssinoux Saturday after defeating the Citadel's Danny Dossetor 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 the previous day.
In doubles play, the top-seeded duo of David Goulet and Christopher Price received a first-round bye and squeezed past Wofford's George Kemodlsde and Andrew Stubbs, 9-8, in the second round. In Sunday's quarterfinals, the pair lost to Georgia's Jamie Hunt and Travis Helgeson in a tight 8-6 match, marking the end of the tournament for the Blue Devils.
"It was a solid tournament for us-definitely better than the last," Price said. "They were a good team, and they just took good shots on the big team."
Duke's only home action of the individual season will take place next weekend, when the team hosts Duke Tennis Alumni Weekend. The two-day event at Amblers Stadium runs September 29 and 30.
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