Nerves nearly cost the No. 2 Blue Devils their season opener against William and Mary Sunday.
Duke struggled to produce a 4-3 win against the Tribe in Williamsburg, Va., losing the doubles point but rallying behind singles wins from senior leaders Ester Goldfeld and Rachel Kahan.
William and Mary entered the match with confidence after defeating Richmond 6-1 Saturday and played with nothing to lose. The Blue Devils backed up to the baseline to keep the ball in play, surviving each point with little opportunity to take aggressive shots.
“Unfortunately the first match nerves got to us,” head coach Jamie Ashworth said. “I thought that we played a little bit tentative, a little bit nervous and a little bit scared. We have to be better than that.”
Opening the doubles matches, Duke’s Rebecca Smaller and Alyssa Smith took an early 2-1 lead on court three but could not hold on. Olivia Thaler and Maria Groener found a rhythm and won five of the next six games to take the set, 6-3. The Blue Devils’ No. 2 doubles pair of Samantha Harris and Beatrice Capra overcame an identical 2-1 hole and defeated Julia Casselbury and Melanie Roy 6-4, leaving the doubles point to be decided on court one.
Goldfeld and Annie Mulholland had their hands full with Leeza Nemchinov and Jeltje Loomans, the No. 8 pair in the Atlantic region. The Tribe duo quickly grabbed a 5-2 lead, but Duke held off match point for two more games. With the score 5-4, the Blue Devils were unable to return a Nemchinov forehand at match point and gave up the set 6-4 and the doubles point.
In singles play, Kahan quickly evened the score. The redshirt senior took down Roy 6-1, 6-3 on court three. At the second position, Goldfeld fared better in her second match across the net from Loomans, putting Duke up 2-1 with a 6-3, 6-4 victory. The much-needed wins from the veteran Blue Devils stopped William and Mary from building momentum.
Smith and Cecily Wuenscher squared off on court six. Smith seemed poised to give Duke its third point quickly, taking the first set 6-2, but Wuenscher did not give up the second set without a fight. After 13 games, Smith outlasted her opponent and finished the second set 7-6 to give the Blue Devils a 3-1 edge.
After taking the first three singles matches, the Blue Devils needed one more point to clinch the win, but faced tough battles on the remaining three courts.
The Tribe pushed the matches to a third set on courts four and five after Harris and Mulholland took the first sets, and Capra forced a third set on court one.
Capra—the No. 5 player in last year’s ITA singles rankings—battled back in the second set after dropping the first 6-2 to Nemchinov. In just her third match since last season because of a knee injury, Capra played cautiously, and Nemchinov took advantage, upsetting Duke’s top-ranked singles player 6-2, 2-6, 6-4.
Mulholland was not able to fend off Groener in the third set on court five, falling 6-4, 2-6, 6-4.
The decision rested with Harris—the lone Blue Devil freshman in the lineup—on court four. After losing a tight second set 7-6, the Melbourne, Australia, native regained control of the match, taking the third set 6-4 and giving Duke its fourth and final point.
“Clinching the match for us is a big thing for her,” Ashworth said. “That was her first team match, and she got us over the hump to that fourth point.”
Hoping to have shaken off the early season nerves, the Blue Devils will return to competition Saturday, hosting the ITA Kickoff Weekend. Duke's first match is against Louisville at noon.
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