Plotkin returns at Wake Invite

This weekend in Winston-Salem, Duke kicked off its quest to defend last year’s national championship at the Wake Forest Invitational. And if this weekend’s results are any indication, the squad is a talented one—but one that will need to develop more consistency.

Of particular significance to the Blue Devils was the return of senior Elizabeth Plotkin, who played her first weekend of tournament tennis in almost two years due to injury. Plotkin’s return to the lineup is crucial for a Blue Devil team that lost graduated seniors Melissa Mang and Jessi Robinson as well as underclassmen Mallory Cecil and Tara Ayer from last year.

Plotkin picked right up where she left off, going 3-1 on the weekend in singles matches, including an impressive blanking of Richmond’s Kelly Tidwell 6-0, 6-0. Plotkin showed no residual effect from a devastating knee injury she has worked hard to rehabilitate.

“I just had to remind myself that for the past year-and-a-half I had been watching on the sidelines and now I had the chance to be playing again and I needed to just enjoy it,” Plotkin said. “Physically, I’m fine, and I knew that would take care of itself.”

While much of the spotlight and attention of the coaching staff was on Plotkin’s return, her teammates faired equally well on the weekend.

Junior Ellah Nze, senior Amanda Granson and sophomore Monica Gorny all went 3-1 on the weekend in their singles matches. The trio finished off strong with each player securing a win in her final match of the tournament Sunday.

The team’s top-ranked player, No. 13 Reka Zsilinszka, started the tournament off with a bang before dropping her last two matches to unranked players and finishing the weekend with a 2-2 mark.

However, Zsilinszka was more successful with her doubles play this weekend where she was paired with Nze. The duo looked very convincing in its first three competitions, advancing to the finals without much difficulty. But in the finals, the Illinois pairing of Marisa Lambropoulos and Breanne Smutko proved to be too much as the Blue Devils’ two fell 8-4.