In a matchup of two top-five teams Wednesday, Duke was unable to withstand the bite of the defending national champion Florida Gators, falling 5-0 to end its nonconference season.
The No. 5 Blue Devils (11-2) traveled to Gainesville to take on second-ranked Florida (11-1) at Linder Stadium. The victory was the Gators’ 100th straight win at home.
Duke was caught off-guard early in doubles play, finding itself down 4-0 on two out of three courts.
“[Florida was] off to a good start in the doubles,” head coach Jamie Ashworth said. “We competed well once we got going, but they were better than us from the start.”
Despite the rough start, the Blue Devils were able to mount a comeback effort in the top doubles match. After the 19th-ranked Duke duo of freshman Beatrice Capra and sophomore Rachel Kahan trailed 5-1 to Allie Will and Sofie Oyen, the No. 3 pairing in the country, the Blue Devils rallied to a 6-6 tie. The Gators recovered, however, finishing the match 8-6 to complete the sweep of the doubles competition.
Capra and Kahan continued their promising play in singles. Capra, the nation’s No. 2 singles player, faced off against the only player ranked ahead of her, junior No. 1 Allie Will. Capra sought revenge for an October match at the ITA All-American Championships, where Will defeated the Ellicott City, Md. native 6-2, 6-4 in the quarterfinals to oust Capra from the main draw. Capra showed early progress toward avenging the Fall defeat, capturing the first set and building a 5-4 lead. By that point, though, the match had already been decided in Florida’s favor, as Duke fell in straight sets at No. 2, No. 3 and No. 6 to earn the team victory for Florida. Further misfortune befell Capra, as bad weather conditions ended her match one game short of victory.
Kahan found herself in a similar situation, fighting back to win the second set after falling 6-1 in the first set. She led the decisive set 4-2 when the weather intervened.
“Mentally for [Capra] it is good,” Ashworth said. “Rachel Kahan did a good job of battling back. She competed very well. They both know that they can win those matches.”
The Blue Devils’ other matches were not quite as confidence-inspiring, however, as sophomore Hanna Mar and freshmen Monica Turewicz and Ester Goldfeld combined to win just seven games in their straight-set defeats. Mar fell to No. 14 Lauren Embree 6-0, 6-2, giving Florida a 2-0 lead before Turewicz suffered just her second loss of the season, to Caroline Hitimana.
Ester Goldfeld’s loss to heavily-favored Joanna Mather, the 19th-ranked player in the nation, clinched the match for the Gators. Mather’s 6-3, 6-1 win handed Goldfeld her first loss of the season.
“They are the defending national champions for a reason,” Ashworth said. “We knew it would be a tough match.”
Duke’s difficult early-season schedule will have them prepared for conference play, which begins Saturday against N.C. State.
“[Today’s match] gave us a gauge of what we need to work on to compete with a team like this,” Ashworth said.
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