Although they fell in the quarterfinals of the ACC tournament, the Blue Devils still received a top-10 seed for the NCAA championship and will open play in front of their home crowd.
Ninth-ranked Duke earned the No. 9 seed in the championship bracket and will take on Virginia Commonwealth in its first match May 13. Texas, which fell 4-3 to the Blue Devils in Durham Feb. 21, and William & Mary are the other two teams that will open play on Duke's home court, with the winners of the first-round matches meeting in the second round May 14.
Although the Blue Devils (18-6) lost three of their final six matches, they did not have their top singles player—No. 37 Beatrice Capra—for four of them. Duke's only senior, Capra is likely well-rested and will look to lead Duke past the championship's second round, in which the Blue Devils bowed out last year.
No. 55 Kaitlyn McCarthy, a freshman, and No. 64 Chalena Scholl, a junior, give head coach Jamie Ashworth's squad two more top-100 singles players to anchor the lineup. Capra and freshman Ellyse Hamlin are also ranked 15th nationally in doubles.
If the higher-seeded teams in the championship advance through the first two rounds, Duke will meet eighth-seeded Pepperdine in the tournament's round of 16.
Capra and McCarthy were also selected to participate in the NCAA singles competition beginning May 25 after the team championship ends, with the tandem of Capra and Hamlin earning an at-large bid to qualify for the doubles bracket. Scholl was chosen as an alternate for the singles competition.
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