In a meeting of top 10 teams, the match between Duke and Virginia came down to a battle of top 10 singles players.
With the match tied at 3-3, each team sent out its top player to try to earn the decisive point to clinch the match.
Up for the No. 6 Blue Devils (14-3, 4-1 in the ACC) was junior Henrique Cunha, the No. 3 singles player in the nation, who sported a 12-1 record in dual match play, including wins against three players ranked in the top 15. In response, the Cavaliers (15-1, 5-0) sent out No. 7 Jarmere Jenkins, who was undefeated in dual match singles play, featuring a 9-0 record from the No. 1 singles spot.
The Cavaliers ultimately prevailed, with their top singles player avenging his earlier doubles loss to give Virginia the victory.
“I want Cunha in that [clinching] match every time,” head coach Ramsey Smith said. “He’s the guy who wants the ball.”
The first set featured long, physical groundstroke rallies with each player saving break points on his serve in the first couple of games. With the score 6-5 and Jenkins serving, Cunha had his best chance to win the set, going up 0-30 in the decisive game. Jenkins responded with four consecutive groundstroke winners, however, to force the tiebreaker.
In the tiebreaker, Jenkins continued his strong play, ripping several winners en route to capturing the first set 7-6 (7-4).
In the second set, Jenkins broke Cunha early to lead 3-1 and held serve in the fifth game. In that game, Cunque battled back from a 40-15 deficit to earn a break point. Jenkins saved the break point, though, and ultimately won the game. From there, Jenkins cruised to a 6-1 second-set victory that clinched the match for Virginia.
“It was a high level, high quality match,” Smith said. “Cunha did have some chances, but Jenkins played really well.”
Virginia has now won nine consecutive matches against Duke and has amassed 83 consecutive ACC victories, including the last four ACC championships.
But the Blue Devils almost ended the streak, jumping out to an early lead by winning the double point—the first time they have done so against Virginia in four matches.
In singles play, the Cavaliers came out strong and won at the No. 2, No. 3 and No. 5 positions in straight sets to gain a 3-1 lead. A late substitute at No. 6 singles, Blue Devil Cale Hammond responded to Virginia’s surge with a 6-4, 6-4 victory to close the gap to 3-2. At No. 4 singles, Fred Saba stormed back from a 5-3 deficit to win the first set 7-5, setting the stage for Cunha and Jenkins.
“Overall it was a great college match,” Smith said. “We had an awesome crowd, a great atmosphere out there.”
On Sunday, the Blue Devils responded decisively to the close loss to the Cavaliers. Playing Virginia Tech (6-8, 2-3), Duke won 7-0 without dropping a single set in singles or doubles.
Cunha rebounded from his earlier loss, winning his singles and doubles matches easily. In doubles, Cunha won 8-3 to clinch the doubles point and followed that up with a convincing 6-1, 6-0 victory at No. 1 singles to give the Blue Devils an insurmountable 4-0 advantage.
Although Duke split its matches over the weekend, it is still looking to improve and ultimately get another chance to beat Virginia.
“I think we are a better team than we’ve been. I thought in some spots we did not play our best,” Smith said. “Hopefully we’ll get a shot at Virginia in the ACC tournament.”
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