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Duke women's tennis bounces back with 2 wins to open ACC play

Junior Beatrice Capra finished off a strong weekend with a 6-1, 6-0 win against Louisville's Jessie Lynn Paul.
Junior Beatrice Capra finished off a strong weekend with a 6-1, 6-0 win against Louisville's Jessie Lynn Paul.

After dropping five straight matches before starting ACC play, the No. 23 Blue Devils got exactly what they needed this weekend at the Sheffield Tennis Center—two wins and extra rest.

Duke knocked off Virginia Tech 5-2 Friday night and dismantled Louisville 4-0 Sunday for the second time this season to bounce back from a recent rough stretch and begin ACC play atop the conference as it traditionally has. The Blue Devils have now opened league play with back-to-back wins for the fifth time in six seasons.

Because it didn’t have to finish the rest of the singles matches against the Cardinals like it did against the Hokies, Duke was able to exit the court quickly Sunday to nurse its numerous lingering injuries.

“When you have the opportunity to win matches, you have to take advantage. To be off the court in two hours for us health-wise is a good thing,” head coach Jamie Ashworth said. “Every match we play in the conference is tough. We’ve got to keep building and getting wins.”

The Blue Devils (6-5, 2-0 in the ACC) have suffered health setbacks throughout the season and received another obstacle to deal with Friday. Freshman Christina Makarova has been out for several months after knee surgery, junior Beatrice Capra has dealt with knee soreness and against the Hokies, senior Ester Goldfeld also injured her lower leg and had to retire against Francesca Fusinato.

But despite not being 100 percent, Duke was able to easily knock off Virginia Tech Friday sparked by a gutsy performance by Capra and jumped out to a quick start in doubles Sunday against the Cardinals (10-6, 2-1). Capra and senior Rachel Kahan defeated Louisville’s Jessie Lynn Paul and Manuela Velasquez 8-3 and have now won two straight matches as Ashworth’s No. 2 doubles tandem.

“It's good to be playing with [Rachel] again,” Capra said. “The more we play the more I know where she’s going on the court and she knows where I’m going and the communication is a lot better.”

The Blue Devils’ No. 3 doubles team of freshman Samantha Harris and senior Annie Mulholland also found success this weekend. Harris and Mulholland fed off each other nicely as they clinched the doubles point for Duke with an 8-3 win against Ariana Rodriquez and Ellie Gerlach.

Like their teammates, Harris and Mulholland have now won two consecutive doubles matches and will look to continue getting the Blue Devils off to fast starts.

“They’re a good combination because Sam can really penetrate with her groundstrokes especially off her serve and return and Annie can finish at the net,” Ashworth said. “So Annie gets a lot of opportunities at the net off of Sam’s ball and when they do that, they’re tough to beat.”

When Duke captured its second doubles win of the weekend and the crucial doubles point, the No. 1 team of Goldfeld and sophomore Alyssa Smith was down 7-6 to Cardinals Chloe Willetts and Olivia Boesing.

And just as they did Friday against the Hokies (7-4, 0-3), the Blue Devils kept their foot on the gas and started fast in singles play.

Duke’s first singles point came with No. 87 Harris’ 6-1, 6-3 rout of Cassie Pough. In the second set, Pough made a final push to even the match and took a 3-2 lead. But Harris maintained her composure to capture four straight games and move to 5-2 in dual matches.

The Blue Devils’ next two match-clinching wins then occurred within minutes of each other.

No. 51 Goldfeld, exhibited no signs of the lower leg soreness she felt Friday as she handed Ariana Rodriguez a 6-2, 6-2 defeat. After the match started off even at 2-2, the Brooklyn, N.Y., native quickly ran away from Rodriguez to secure her team-leading 16th win.

At the No. 1 spot, Capra easily dispatched an erratic Paul 6-1, 6-0 to continue her strong start to ACC play. The junior lost just four games in her Friday singles win against Virginia Tech’s Ilinca Stoica and looks to be rounding into form as league play heats up.

After Capra’s win clinched the match for the Blue Devils, three other singles matches remained in progress. No. 86 Kahan held a firm 7-5, 3-0 advantage against Velasquez and Mulholland led Willets 6-3, 3-2. Rebecca Smaller trailed Boesing 5-7, 1-3.

After bouncing back from a string of losses and several injuries, the Blue Devils know what they have to do to on the road at Boston College and Syracuse to rebound to playing the tennis that had them ranked in the top five at the beginning of the season.

“We have to keep getting better and getting healthier,” Ashworth said. “We’re getting better everyday and we’re getting healthier everyday. We have to keep the momentum going and go out there and really just worry about ourselves.”

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