Playing without their top singles player, the Blue Devils got back in the win column on the road.
Duke bested Boston College 5-2 Sunday at the Flynn Recreation Tennis Complex in Chestnut Hill, Mass., ending a four-match road trip that included a 5-2 loss at Notre Dame Friday at the Eck Tennis Pavilion in South Bend, Ind. Although healthy, sophomore Nicolas Alvarez sat out of Sunday's match, but the Blue Devils used solid doubles play and stellar play from their reshuffled singles lineup to salvage a 2-2 road trip.
"[Alvarez] was over on his NCAA individual dates, so he had to sit one match out this spring, and that is why we sat him out," Duke head coach Ramsey Smith said.
The Blue Devils (8-9, 2-3 in the ACC) secured the doubles point against Boston College (3-10, 0-5) with wins on court one and court three. On court one, freshmen Vincent Lin and Catalin Mateas downed Kyle Childree and Hank Workman 6-4 in the Blue Devil tandem's top-court debut.
But the hosts quickly got even, as the Eagle duo of Alexandre Thirouin and Aidan McNutty defeated senior Daniel McCall and freshman Jason Lapidus on court two, 6-4. McCall and Lapidus went 0-2 on the weekend after falling Friday at Notre Dame.
“I really thought that Catalin and Vincent set the tone,” Smith said. “They played No. 1, which is a big jump. They played No. 3 just last match against Notre Dame, but those guys have been working extremely hard and had a really good practice. They just came out with a lot of energy, and they were really aggressive.”
With the doubles point up for grabs on court three, senior Josh Levine and freshman Ryan Dickerson rose to the occasion, beating Kent Mukai and Jeffrey Melvin 6-3 to give Duke an early 1-0 lead for the first time in four matches.
“It definitely felt good [to win the doubles point],” Smith said. “It has been quite a while since we won the doubles point, and hopefully this will start a trend.”
Since the Flynn Recreation Tennis Complex has only four courts, singles matches one-through-four were played first. On court two, Lin defeated Melvin 6-2, 6-1 to start off what would be a decisive victory in singles play for the Blue Devils, who trotted out a lineup with four singles players. The next match to finish was on court four, where Levine defeated Thirouin 6-3, 6-2. Mateas took down McNulty 6-3, 6-4 in Alvarez’s usual spot at first singles to clinch victory for Duke—the freshman's first-ever match-deciding win.
Rounding out singles play, Workman snapped Pura’s five game winning streak with a 6-4, 7-6 victory on court three, Dickerson beat Childree by a score of 6-3, 6-1 on court six and Mukai defeated freshman Adrian Chamdani 6-4, 6-1 on court five.
“Catalin and Vincent really led the way, stepping in and playing No. 1 and No. 2,” Smith said. “Ryan did a fantastic job on court six, as well. That was one of his better matches. Adrian came up a little bit short. But overall, the freshmen are starting to figure things out and definitely starting to get better. I think, as a whole, we have definitely come together as a team a lot this past week.”
At Notre Dame, Duke dropped the doubles point after two quick losses on courts two and three, then dropped four of the ensuing six singles matches. Mateas claimed a 7-6 (8-6), 6-3 victory on court three and Pura beat Alex Lawson 6-4, 6-3 to register the only points of the day for Smith's squad.
The Blue Devils will return to action Friday at 3 p.m. when they host Virginia Tech before gearing up for a doubleheader Sunday against Louisville and N.C. Central starting.
“Hopefully this match will springboard us into the second half of the ACC season” Smith said. “Getting those four matches in on the road, especially with these freshmen, and playing in some difficult places is just going to make us tougher.”
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Jacob Weiss is a Trinity senior. His column, "not jumping to any conclusions," runs on alternate Fridays.