The Blue Devils are on a roll, sweeping every team in their way this weekend to remain undefeated.
After defeating No. 10 Pepperdine Friday, No. 11 Duke swept both Virginia Tech and N.C. Central 4-0 Monday. While both matches were played to clinch, the Blue Devils only dropped one match the entire day, and when the remaining matches were suspended, they were leading on every court.
“I feel like we have a great group of girls this year. Culture wise, everything comes together really nicely on court and off court,” senior Ellie Coleman said.
Coleman’s battle against Laima Frosch on court four of the opening Virginia Tech match displayed the tone of this year's team.
With the first set tied at four, there was a heated debate over an in-out call that resulted in both coaches getting involved. The point went the Hokies way, Coleman lost a subsequent deuce point and there was an altercation at the net, resulting in Frosch receiving a warning from the chair ref.
After these incidents, Coleman did not drop a single game the rest of the day — including her 6-0, 6-0 win against N.C. Central. While she was not able to close it out against Frosch, she was leading 6-4, 5-0 and 30-40 when the match was abandoned with sophomore Shavit Kimchi’s clinching 6-1, 6-1 win on court three.
“It’s not uncommon that that happens in tennis,” Coleman said. “It kind of gives me motivation in the right direction. I think it definitely gave me some more energy.”
Even though Duke had two solid 4-0 wins on Monday, head coach Jamie Ashworth found room for improvement within doubles play.
“We got off to not a great start again, and we just have to be tougher in the doubles,” Ashworth said after the Virginia Tech match.
Duke dropped its only match of the day during doubles play against the Hokies. Despite jumping out to a 3-0 lead early, junior Katie Codd and freshman Ava Krug lost six games in a row and the match, 4-6. The Blue Devils’ doubles against N.C. Central went much faster, as they finished in just 24 minutes.
“We just got to make sure that we clean up some stuff with our doubles play,” Ashworth said.
The lineup was not consistent throughout the day, changing in singles. For the opening match, senior Emma Jackson was playing on court two with freshman Irina Balus in the top singles slot. Jackson had been on court one in the previous matches. In the evening match, Jackson was replaced by freshman Eleana Yu, who was playing in her second singles match at Duke.
“I've told them the lineup to us doesn't really matter, you know, just go out there and do what you need to do. Play your match and let us worry about it,” Ashworth said. “We want to give people different opportunities at different spots, so we'll probably keep switching lineups around until we find the right fit for everybody.”
The Blue Devils will need all of their momentum and confidence this weekend provided as they head into the ITA Kickoff in Charlottesville, Va. Duke will take on No. 20 South Carolina Friday, and play either No. 9 Virginia or New Mexico on Saturday if they win.
“[We’ve] got to play South Carolina first,” Ashworth said.
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