With the Blue Devils ahead 3-1 but trailing in the third set on two courts, redshirt freshman Christina Makarova clinched the match for Duke to fend off a Longhorn comeback.
Makarova's point proved critical as the No. 7 Blue Devils dropped the ensuing two matches but outlasted Texas 4-3 Sunday at the Sheffield Indoor Tennis Center. Competing in their first match since the ITA National Indoor Championships Feb. 5-7, Duke raced out to an early lead, then had to hold its breath down the stretch as the Longhorns made things interesting.
After not playing during the fall semester while recovering from three knee surgeries, Makarova had just started to compete in dual-match play in January. She replaced freshman Jessica Ho in Sunday’s lineup on court six, and the San Diego native found herself fighting off a comeback by Lana Groenvynck with the second set tied 4-4.
“I was up 3-2 and lost the next two games on a deciding point, and it could have been so much easier. But I thought, ‘If you could have been up 5-2, there’s no reason you can’t win this set,’" Makarova said. "I tried to buckle down and do my best.”
She did—Makarova won the next two games to win her match and secure the team victory, defeating Groenvynck 6-3, 6-4.
In a high-powered matchup between two all-conference honorees on court one, No. 8 Breaunna Addison of Texas defeated No. 24 Beatrice Capra 6-1, 7-5. Addison frustrated Capra in the first set, keeping the Blue Devil pinned to the baseline and firing unanswerable shots to the corners. Capra’s lone point of the first set came from breaking Addison’s serve in the fifth game, giving her a small boost heading into the second frame.
Capra kept pace with Addison for a few games but was forced to fight back from a 2-4 deficit to keep the Longhorns (3-3) off the board. The Ellicott City, Md., native managed to tie the set 4-4, then again at 5-5 but could not outlast Addison.
“Breaunna is a really good player,” Duke head coach Jamie Ashworth said. “[Beatrice] did a really great job of neutralizing the point, but when she had the chance to step up and dictate, she didn’t. When you’re playing matches like that against someone that talented, you have to take advantage of the first opportunity you get because you may only get one in a point.”
After winning the doubles point, Duke (7-1) jumped out to a 2-0 lead with a quick victory on court four. Samantha Harris won four games of her second stanza before any other court wrapped up the first set, but was momentarily slowed by dropping her serve in the fourth game. The Melbourne, Australia, native defeated Daniella Roldan 6-0, 6-2, heading off of the court 25 minutes before her teammates.
“Winning the doubles point and coming out and getting a quick match like that was great for everybody,” Ashworth said. “We want to get a quick singles match to not give the other team [anything] to feed off of, and Sam did a great job of being that person today.”
No. 21 Kaitlyn McCarthy, Chalena Scholl and Makarova also jumped out to early leads on courts two, three and six with 6-3 wins in the first set. McCarthy rolled through the second set against Danielle Wagland 6-0 to put the Blue Devils up 3-0.
But Texas put up a fight in the second frame to put the Duke squad at risk of dropping its first match at Sheffield this season. Longhorn Neda Koprcina battled back for a 6-4 win in the second set and dealt Scholl her first loss in dual-match action with a 6-3 win in the final frame. Despite an impressive charge in the second set, No. 68 Ellyse Hamlin dropped her match on court five to Katie Poluta 4-6, 6-0, 3-6.
“We kind of relaxed a little bit and took our foot off the gas. We can’t afford to do that,” Ashworth said. “We put ourselves in places to win games, win sets, win matches and sat back and thought they were going to give them to us. But nobody is going to give us anything. We definitely have to work on closing and finishing opportunities.”
In doubles action, the No. 27 pair of Capra and Hamlin had little difficulty dispatching No. 32 Addison and Wagland 6-1 on court one, breaking both Longhorns’ serves to win the first four games. Capra drilled a volley from the net between Addison and Wagland to end the match.
Just a minute later, No. 49 pair Scholl and Alyssa Smith wrapped up their 6-2 victory against Groenvynck and Poluta to clinch the doubles point.
Duke will kick off its ACC slate next week, hosting Florida State Friday at 5 p.m. and No. 12 Miami Sunday at noon.
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