Spring sport spotlight: Duke women's tennis rises to No. 3 in the country

In the latest edition of Spring Sport Spotlight, the Blue Zone catches up with Duke women’s tennis’ historic season, which sees the Blue Devils ranked third in the nation: 

After starting the season on the outside of the top 10 looking in, Duke women’s tennis has won 14 straight matches to ascend to No. 3 in the nation. With wins against then-No. 16 Cal and then-No. 25 Stanford last weekend, the Blue Devils strengthened their grip on first place in the race for an ACC regular season title. Despite the conference's competitiveness, with five teams making this week’s top 25, head coach Jamie Ashworth’s squad is poised to have one of its best seasons during Ashworth’s 29-year tenure, as we near the postseason. 

The Blue Devils have had a historic season, notching a critical win in Chapel Hill against rival North Carolina with a 4-2 victory in March; they kept that momentum up on the West Coast over the weekend. Sophomore Eleana Yu, who came to Durham after spending her freshman season with the Cardinals, won the deciding contest against her former team. Duke’s encounter with Cal came even closer to the wire: Shavita Kimchi won by default to secure the match for her team in Berkeley, Calif.

With the new team rankings come new individual rankings, and the Blue Devils surpassed expectations once again. Irina Balus came in first for Duke at No. 18 and Emma Jackson earned the No. 24 spot. Six players were ranked by the ITA, making Duke the most decorated squad in the United States in terms of individual rankings. 

Seniors Ellie Coleman and Jackson have provided a steady level of experience for an otherwise very young team. The duo, who will celebrate their senior night against Miami Sunday afternoon, have notched a 18-3 collective record in singles in the ACC. Rookie Liv Hovde put the conference on notice with a second top-25 victory this season, which earned her ACC Freshman of the Week honors for the first time. 

Duke will take on Miami on Sunday, April 13 in Durham, before turning to the ACC Championships next weekend.