Following just its third defeat of the season, Duke will look to get back to its winning ways this weekend with another pair of ACC matches.
After a weekend in which the Blue Devils defeated Clemson 5-2 and then dropped a 6-1 match against then-No. 8 Virginia, the team will try to rebound this weekend with two home matches. No. 5 Duke will take on Notre Dame Friday at 3 p.m. at Ambler Stadium and then will welcome Boston College Saturday at 3 p.m.
Duke will look to rebound after a tough defeat against the Cavaliers, however, taking down the Fighting Irish (12-7, 4-3) will be no easy task.
“They’re one of those teams that were top 10 in the country last year and lost their top player,” head coach Ramsey Smith said. “But they’ve got some new guys in and I think they’re a little under-ranked right now. They’ve had some tough losses, but I certainly see them as a top-20, top-15 team. We’ve had a lot of battles with them, and we’re just looking for a really good match.”
The match will be highlighted by the duel between the Blue Devil’s No. 11-ranked Nicolas Alvarez and Quentin Monaghan, who is ranked No. 17 in the country for Notre Dame (12-7, 4-3).
“It’s going to be a great match,” Smith said. “Quentin’s had an amazing year. He’s had a great fall and a really good spring and he’s won a lot of matches. He’s the type of guy who makes a lot of balls and you’ve really got to beat him. The good news is that Nico has that fire power to be able to beat the more consistent, counter-punching types of players.”
Another key area of the match for Duke (17-3, 5-2 in the ACC) will be the doubles point.
The Blue Devils have struggled in recent matches in doubles, dropping their last three doubles points, and the Fighting Irish have two of the top 25 doubles teams in the nation with the No. 9 duo of Alex Lawson and Billy Pecor, and the No. 22 pair of Eddy Covalschi and Josh Hagar.
“They have three really good teams,” Smith said. “We’re more focused on us and just executing our doubles and our strategies, and certainly looking to play a little bit better doubles than we’ve been playing.”
One thing Duke has going for it is the impressive play of senior Raphael Hemmeler. Hemmeler is riding a five-match winning streak coming into this weekend and is fresh off a win against No. 10 Thai-Son Kwiatkowski of Virginia. His production from the third singles spot will be a key for the Blue Devils going forward.
“He’s had a great career and this is his fourth really good spring,” Smith said. “This is the best tennis he’s played. He’s the type of kid that always steps up for the bigger matches and gets excited to play the very best and seems to play his best tennis against the toughest competition.”
Following Friday’s match, Duke will square off against the Eagles (6-11, 0-6) Saturday. Although Boston College does not quite pose as potent a threat as the Fighting Irish, the Blue Devils know that they cannot look past the Eagles.
“Every ACC match is a big deal,” Smith said. “Beating BC counts the same for seeding as beating Virginia. They’re all big, they’re all tough, so we’ll be ready to go.”
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