The Blue Devils have yet to defeat a ranked ACC opponent on the road this season, but are hoping to change that come Thursday.
Fresh off a 7-0 sweep of Boston College this past weekend, No. 6 Duke looks to continue its hot end to the season with wins against No. 16 North Carolina and Florida State. The Blue Devils will take on the Tar Heels Thursday at 3 p.m. in Chapel Hill, N.C., and then host the Seminoles Sunday at noon.
“We are certainly looking to build on the momentum from last weekend,” head coach Ramsey Smith said. “It is going to be a tough match—I think UNC is a great team, probably a top-five or top-six-in-the-country-caliber team.”
Playing No. 1 singles for the Tar Heels will most likely be No. 15 Brayden Schnur, who is 14-5 this year and has only lost 10 matches in his two-year career. The 6-foot-4 sophomore will have the honor of facing No. 11 Nicolas Alvarez, Duke’s freshman phenom. On court two, North Carolina will likely start No. 24 Ronnie Schneider to challenge No. 42 Jason Tahir. Although the Tar Heels have started both Brett Clark and Jack Murray in the third slot, one of the two will play No. 58 Raphael Hemmeler at No. 3 singles, and the other will play Bruno Semenzato at No. 4 in Thursday’s contest.
Crucial to the Blue Devils’ success against North Carolina—as well as Florida State—will be securing the doubles point. Duke (19-3, 6-2 in the ACC) started strong with its doubles play, earning 14 total doubles points through 17 matches. The Blue Devils suffered a streak of three straight doubles points lost but managed to fight back for the overall victory in two of the three matches and have won the doubles point in both of their matches since.
“For the last two weeks, we have spent a lot of time on doubles,” Smith said. “It has certainly been coming around, and it showed this past weekend [against Boston College]. We are definitely in a better spot regarding our doubles lineup. Both UNC and Florida State have great doubles, so it is going to be a big point.”
North Carolina (16-8, 5-3) will most likely play the teams of Esben Hess-Olesen and Oystein Steiro, Clark and Robert Kelly and Murray and Schneider, and the Seminoles are likely to start Benjamin Lock and Marco Nunez, Cristian Gonzalez Mendez and Michael Rinaldi and twin brothers Terrance and Terrell Whitehurst.
Florida State is 17-6 overall this season—5-3 in the ACC—and has yet to defeat a ranked team. Overcoming the No. 6 Blue Devils in Durham will be difficult, but the Seminoles have their eyes set on upset.
“It is our last home match of the season, it is going to be Senior Day,” Smith said. “Florida State is a really good team, so it is going to be an exciting day of tennis.”
The Florida State lineup that will attempt to spoil the day for Duke seniors Chris Mengel, Hemmeler and Tahir has won five of its conference matches in the last six opportunities, with a narrow 4-3 decision to Notre Dame as its only loss. The squad enters the weekend fresh off a 7-0 defeat of Miami but will face N.C. State Friday before challenging the Blue Devils Sunday.
“This weekend, we have two really good opportunities and challenges for our team,” Smith said. “We are in our last four regular season matches, and every match now—just like it has been for the whole ACC season—is a big deal. We are playing only good teams from here on out, so every match is important.”
The Blue Devils currently stand in second place in the ACC right behind undefeated No. 4 Virginia. The Blue Devils edge out Virginia Tech for the No. 2 spot despite identical ACC records due to Duke’s slightly higher season winning percentage. Behind the Hokies are Louisville, Florida State, Wake Forest and North Carolina, who are all 5-3 in conference play.
“There’s a bunch of teams at the top jostling for seedings in the ACC tournament,” Smith said. “Our goal is to be in the top three, because the top three teams get a bye. Our goal is to take it one match at a time and just look to play our best every single day.”
After this weekend, Duke will have a pair of road matches left to play against Louisville and Georgia Tech before the ACC tournament kicks off Thursday, April 23 in Cary, N.C.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.
Jacob Weiss is a Trinity senior. His column, "not jumping to any conclusions," runs on alternate Fridays.