Duke tries for second title at ITA Nationals

It has been nine years since the Blue Devils captured the only ITA National Indoor Team Championship in school history, and Duke will open this year’s tournament in prime position to add a second title to its trophy case.

The No. 3 Blue Devils (5-0) will travel to Charlottesville, Va. as the No. 1 seed in the ITA National Women’s Indoor Team Championship, which will take place Feb. 10-13 at Boars Head Sports Club. They will take on No. 23 Mississippi (4-1), who they have not faced in 13 years, at 9 a.m. Friday to start their weekend.

Unbeaten Duke recently defeated No. 12 Northwestern 5-0, and head coach Jamie Ashworth believes that match has his team well-prepared.

“We really needed to be in a tough match,” Ashworth said. “It was really good for our confidence to know that we can win close matches.”

At No. 1 singles, Duke freshman Beatrice Capra, the defending ACC player of the week who ranks seventh in the nation, will take on her toughest opponent thus far this season, No. 12 Kristi Boxx, who also has three more years of NCAA experience than Capra.

“It’s definitely contrasting styles” Ashworth said. “Boxx likes to hit the ball hard and a little bit flatter. [Beatrice] is a little bit more of a defender and likes to put some height and some spin on the ball.”

Boxx also sports a No. 4 ranking in doubles with teammate Abby Guthrie. They will take on the Blue Devils’ Ester Goldfeld and Mary Clayton, who will seek revenge after losing 8-6 to Guthrie and Boxx in the fall individual season.

The Blue Devils fell short of a second title last year, falling to Florida 4-1 in the semifinals. They enter this year’s tournament with the top recruiting class in the nation and three singles players ranked inside the top 40. Should they defeat the Runnin’ Rebels, though, plenty of tough competition will remain, as the 16-team field in Charlottesville includes all of the nation’s top 10 teams aside from No. 1 Florida and No. 2 Stanford.