It might not be Hawaii, but the Blue Devils welcome the chance to open their season and defend their ranking on the road.
Coming off a successful campaign at the Hidden Duals in Hawaii, No. 2 Duke will kick off the 2015 regular season this Sunday against William & Mary in Williamsburg, Va., as it looks to justify its current ITA preseason No. 2 ranking.
“We haven’t talked about the ranking at all,” head coach Jamie Ashworth said. “That is 100 percent a reflection of how the team played last year. This year’s team hasn’t earned anything like that at all. No team really has. It was based on our team’s finish last year and some stuff on paper.”
The Blue Devils ended last season by falling to this year’s preseason No 1. UCLA in the quarterfinals of the NCAA tournament. Leading a squad with three new faces and veteran talent, Ashworth hopes to begin the season strong and finish with some pretty hardware by May.
“We want to start establishing ourselves by playing with energy and determination, regardless of whether we make shots or miss them,” Ashworth said. “Having conviction with what we’re doing will be key. We want to use this weekend to set the tone for the rest of the spring. We have to show that we’re here to play.”
Duke currently has two players ranked in the ITA national singles rankings list after fall matches—freshman Samantha Harris at No. 55 and senior Ester Goldfeld at No. 87. The Aussie freshman finished her first fall season with a 7-1 record, including five wins in a row. Ashworth lauded her talents and development since arriving at Duke.
“She definitely has a lot of talent that she’s shown in the fall. Plenty of quality wins,” Ashworth said. “The biggest thing with Sam is controlling her emotions during the match. She’s up and down, up and down, so we’re trying to get her to be more even keeled. She has to play with more positive emotion and if she can do that she’ll be really good.”
Although Harris is a solid addition of talent to the Blue Devils, Goldfeld and redshirt junior Beatrice Capra will be looking to continue their excellent play for Duke. The two garnered ITA All-American recognition last year and both finished in the top 20 of the ITA national singles rankings—Goldfeld at No.17 and Capra at No. 5. While Goldfeld had a solid fall season, Capra was forced to miss it entirely due to a knee injury sustained last May. The Baltimore, Md., native has had plenty of time to recuperate and played her first two matches since last season during the Hidden Duals at Hawaii last week.
Ashworth said that early in the season, he wasn’t sure who would step up as the vocal team leader and that the responsibility could rest on the coaches initially. He pointed out the loss of Hanna Mar to graduation last year and stressed how important it is that her production and value to the team has to be replaced.
William & Mary will lean on Jeltje Loomans and Leeza Nemchinov—both ranked regionally by ITA. Loomans is currently No. 80 on the national singles list and No. 8 in the Atlantic Region, and Nemchinov is No. 11 in the region. As a doubles pair, they are No. 8 regionally and will likely face off against Duke’s No. 5-ranked doubles pairing of Goldfeld and sophomore Alyssa Smith.
In addition to Harris, Goldfeld and Capra, redshirt senior Rachel Kahan and freshman Rebecca Smaller are both ranked in the top 20 of the ITA Carolina Region at No. 11 and No.13, respectively.
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