Tar Heels send Blue Devils crashing out of Team Indoors

For the first time this young season, No. 1 Duke was legitimately challenged by several rivals, and surprisingly, that challenge resulted in the Blue Devils’ first loss of the season—and to North Carolina, to boot.

After reaching the semifinals of the ITA National Team Indoors, Duke (7-1) lost the doubles point and eventually the match to the No. 11 Tar Heels, 4-3. North Carolina advanced to Monday’s championship, where it will take on No. 2 Northwestern.

The Blue Devils fell behind early after losing two of three doubles matches, and were down 2-0 before they knew it when No. 1 Reka Zsilinszka was beaten in straight sets. But Duke battled back to tie the score at 3-3, leaving only second seed Ellah Nze on the court locked in a third set with Tar Heel Sanaz Marand. Marand led a close match late and managed to close it out to send her team to the championship round.

“One of the reasons we always play this tournament is to play in matches like this,” head coach Jamie Ashworth said. “And I think we showed we can compete with anyone in the country this weekend. It’s similar to the situation we were in last year losing to a top team and then coming back to beat them later in the season. We will be looking forward to the regular season match with North Carolina.”

Earlier in the tournament, Duke struggled only slightly. After defeating host Wisconsin 6-1 in the opening round, the Blue Devils faced a much bigger challenge in the form of No. 8 Southern California in the quarterfinals.

Against the Trojans Saturday, Duke’s top two doubles teams recorded victories to earn the Blue Devils the double point. That turned out to be crucial, as Zsilinszka lost her match at the top of the ledger.

However, the Blue Devils’ third, fourth and fifth seeds—Elizabeth Plotkin, Amanda Granson and Monica Gorny—all won in straight sets to send Duke to the semifinals against North Carolina.

“We have had a lot of wins, but this is the first time we’ve played a team of this caliber,” Ashworth said after defeating the Trojans Saturday. “It was our first tough match and it was good to have a win like this.”