With a quick turnaround looming before Saturday’s second round, the Blue Devils were hoping for a quick victory in their NCAA tournament opener to stay fresh.
Rain was the only thing that slowed Duke down as the 15th-seeded Blue Devils had little trouble dispatching an overmatched Boston University team—even if it took much longer than the hosts expected.
Duke swept the Terriers 4-0 without a serious threat from its first-round opponent Friday evening, winning the doubles point outdoors at Ambler Tennis Stadium before moving inside to Sheffield Tennis Center for singles after a rain delay that lasted almost two and a half hours.
“Growing up playing junior tennis, this kind of stuff happens all the time. In college, you’re not really used to it, but they’ve all played matches where they’ve had to sit around,” Blue Devil head coach Jamie Ashworth said. “A lot of junior tennis is sitting around, and you have to get yourself up and ready to play pretty quickly.”
In misty conditions, Duke’s No. 3 doubles tandem of Samantha Harris and Ellyse Hamlin swept their match 6-0 and the No. 42 team of Kaitlyn McCarthy and Meible Chi quickly clinched the point with a 6-2 win.
But as the rain started to come down more steadily, the two sides waited for it to let up before beginning singles, but the downpour refused to cease.
Both teams moved inside and waited while tournament officials tried to dry the outdoor courts for hours. They finally gave up when the rain continued, however, and the match was allowed to continue indoors at 7 p.m. Boston University (11-11) spent most of the delay sitting alone on the court, and the Blue Devils retreated to their locker room before coming out to warm up 30 minutes before play restarted.
“We were just kind of watching funny videos on Facebook and chatting and trying to pass the time,” McCarthy said. “None of us really brought anything because we didn’t think it was going to take so long.”
It did not take long for the Blue Devils (21-5) to seize control of the match in singles, with three players winning their first sets 6-0.
Hamlin quickly finished the job 6-0, 6-1 against Madison Craft on Court 5, and No. 99 McCarthy was next off the court with a 6-0, 6-2 win. No. 43 Chi then closed out Iryna Kostriko 6-2, 6-3 less than a minute after McCarthy’s match ended to clinch the victory for Duke.
“Even without the delay, efficiency was going to be key to today’s match, especially being the higher-ranked team,” McCarthy said. “We were just trying to really focus and win all the points and not give them confidence or hope that they could beat us or any sort of glimmer that they could win.”
No. 55 Chalena Scholl, Alyssa Smith and Rebecca Smaller all won the first sets in their matches, and the Blue Devils took about an hour to finish singles without even using their usual No. 1 singles option. Ashworth elected to rest the 80th-ranked Harris to keep her fresh for Saturday’s second round.
Harris sat out doubles in Duke’s ACC tournament semifinal loss to Georgia Tech April 29 to rest a tweaked ankle, but Ashworth said she could have played singles Friday if needed.
“Once we won the doubles, we just talked to her.... We just decided to hold her out,” Ashworth said.
The Blue Devils will now advance to play No. 24 Tennessee Saturday at 4 p.m. after the Volunteers dispatched Winthrop 4-1 in Durham prior to Duke’s match Friday. Tennessee is led by No. 42 Brittany Lindl, who also teams up with No. 2 singles player Eve Repic to form the No. 71 doubles duo in the nation.
The Volunteers will enter Saturday’s match with nearly five more hours of rest after finishing their first-round match outdoors before the rain started, and they will look to become the second team in as many years to end Duke’s season on its home courts in the second round.
Texas upset the Blue Devils 4-2 in the same situation last year, and Duke has not advanced to the Round of 16 since 2014.
“It’s about our mentality and being excited and being able to take advantage of the opportunity being here at Duke, and against a feisty Tennessee team,” Ashworth said. “Coming out of the SEC, they don’t have any fear of anybody. They’ve played the best teams in the country, so they’ll walk on the court believing they can win.”
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