In a flashback to a similar postseason win in 2015, Duke waited out multiple rain delays to beat Miami in the second round of the ACC tournament.
After finishing the regular season on a high note with a 4-3 win against Louisville, No. 5 seed Duke topped the 12th-seeded Hurricanes 4-1. The Blue Devils lost the doubles point and got off to a slow start in singles, but stormed back for the comfortable victory.
“The guys have done a really good job of finishing the regular season strong and putting themselves in a good position for the tournament,” Duke head coach Ramsey Smith said. “The main focus is just one match at a time—all these teams are really good.”
With a win already under its belt Wednesday in the first round of the tournament, Miami came out hot in doubles against a Blue Devil squad that has been impressive in doubles all season.
The No. 29 freshmen tandem of Nick Stachowiak and Spencer Furman continued to be successful with an easy 6-1 win against Miami’s 55th-ranked duo of Max Andrews and Jesse Flores, but the other two Duke doubles pairs did not have the same luck, allowing Miami to take a 1-0 lead to start the match.
“We actually played extremely well at 1 doubles and got the win there,” Smith said. “But we were on serve at the other two spots and so Miami finished extremely strong in the doubles and took it to us a little bit.”
Miami (9-13) came out with a similar vigor in singles, going up 5-1 at No. 1 singles and winning the first set 6-0 on Court 6 to put the Blue Devils (16-8) on upset watch, but Duke clawed its way back on both courts.
No. 84 Furman was the first on the board, as he rallied from the 5-1 deficit to win six straight games and take the first set 7-5 against No. 64 Piotr Lomacki on Court 1. Lomacki retired due to injury after that set, allowing the Blue Devils to tie up the match 1-1.
The bottom of the lineup had a strong showing again, with freshman Nick Stachowiak, senior TJ Pura and sophomore Ryan Dickerson all putting a point on the board to finish off the match for Duke.
“TJ and Nick really stepped up for us and got off in straight sets,” Smith said. “Ryan was able after losing that first set 6-0 to regroup and get things going. Once he gets things going, he’s really good and then was able to finish off the match for us.”
Pura won his ninth straight match with a quick 6-2, 6-2 victory against Nile Clark on Court 5. Likewise, Stachowiak beat Jesse Flores 6-2, 7-5 on Court 4, giving Duke a 3-1 lead.
Dickerson battled it out longer on Court 6 against Dane Dunlap after losing the first set 6-0. However, he bounced back to win the next two sets 6-1, giving Duke its last point and the match. Dickerson's comeback was critical, as the Blue Devils had also lost a set on the two courts that went unfinished.
“Getting this first match under our belt is going to help boost us up a little bit, and it’s going to help us with our match tomorrow,” Smith said.
Duke will now take on No. 4 seed Georgia Tech—which it lost a close 4-3 match to on the road April 7—Friday at 1 p.m.
“I think we’re ready to do some serious battle against Georgia Tech tomorrow,” Pura said. “The loss we had at their place stung a lot so I think we’re all very excited to get another shot at them. I’m confident that we’ll take full advantage of that.”
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