"[The two other Clemson matches] were definitely different," head coach Jamie Ashworth said. "Clemson is a very tough place to play for anybody, and I think that we competed really well, and they just got the better of us there, honestly. We had some opportunities to win the match; we had some team match
points. When we played them at the ACC tournament I thought the intensity we played our
doubles with was really good and that kind of carried us all the way through to singles."
"It’s good for us to get out and get away from Duke," Ashworth said. "Duke’s been a great place for us all year—and we went undefeated at home—but there’s only one home team, Georgia’s hosting it, so everyone’s kind of in the same situation. We’ve played well here in the past and had some really good matches here in the past and so the experience and the setting is nothing new to a lot of our players."
"[Playing at night] changes our preparation as far as warming up and practicing and what we do during the day and meals and that kind of stuff, but once we’re on the court, it’s just tennis," Ashworth said. "I t’s going to be a really good match for both teams. We’ve had a good couple days of practice down here in Athens and at Duke in between the regionals and here, so we’re definitely looking forward to playing."
Since the Blue Devils dropped the doubles point in their first contest against Clemson (22-6), they have put an added emphasis on jumping out to an early lead in doubles play. The No. 5 pair of Beatrice Capra and Hanna Mar—boasting an 11-match win streak—along with the 36th-ranked duo of Ester Goldfeld and Alyssa Smith will bolster the Duke lineup in its attempt to grab the opening point.
The Tigers' doubles play is led by the 17th-ranked duo of Beatrice Gumulya and Yana Korole. The two have put together an impressive 12-4 record this season, including a 5-2 mark against ranked opponents.
In singles play, the Blue Devils are led by No. 7 Capra, No. 27 Goldfeld and No. 36 Mar, who have dominated in the first two rounds of the tournament. None of the three has dropped a set yet and will look to keep the streak going against a Clemson team that boasts No. 33 Romy Köelzer and No. 34 Koroleva in singles play.
The Tigers faced UNC-Wilmington in their opening round matchup and swept the Seahawks 4-0. Clemson did the same to No. 29 Auburn in the second round, beating the Tigers 5-0 and regaining the momentum it lost after being dismantled by Duke in the ACC tournament.
Likewise, the Blue Devils have been on a roll thus far in the NCAA tournament, beating East Tennessee State 4-0 in the first round and following the performance with a rout of No. 30 South Carolina in the second round.
Duke and Clemson are two of six surviving ACC teams in the tournament, an impressive feat considering only 16 teams remain.
The winner of Thursday’s contest will face either fifth-seeded UCLA or 12th-seeded Miami Saturday at 4 p.m.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.