Make it six straight for Duke. After a tough beginning to their season, the Blue Devils have now hit their stride and the squad’s initial struggles are a distant memory.
No. 20 Duke extended its winning streak to six matches with a sweep against UNLV Thursday and a 6-1 win against N.C. State Friday at the Frank and Vicki Fertitta Tennis Complex in Las Vegas, NV. The victories wrapped up a four-game road stretch for the Blue Devils.
“It was a great trip for us”, head coach Jame Ashworth said. “We were definitely the more talented team, but we competed well. Every time we win a match, we gain confidence and I think that’s what our team needed, to be more confident. And the other thing is getting more match experience.”
After playing its previous match against Syracuse indoors due to inclement weather, Duke (10-5, 4-0 in the ACC) returned outside against the Wolfpack and Rebels.
As they have done in most of their victories this season, the Blue Devils jumped out to quick starts, capturing the doubles points in both matches. The scoring system used against UNLV (5-7, 1-0 in the MWC), with doubles matches played to six games instead of the usual eight, did not faze Duke.
Senior Ester Goldfeld and sophomore Alyssa Smith gave Duke its first doubles wins against UNLV and N.C. State (8-6, 0-3 in the ACC). The duo, seeded at No. 2, followed up a 6-1 rout of the Runnin’ Rebels Santa Shumilina and Paola Artiga with an 8-4 victory against the Wolfpack's Elisha Hande and Joanna Nalborska.
Duke’s tandem of freshmen Samantha Harris and senior Annie Mulholland—ranked 60th nationally—added two more strong performances to its impressive resume this season. At the No. 1 doubles position, the duo—now 12-3 on the year—edged out the Runnin' Anett Ferenczi-Baco and Mercedes Lopez Valez, 6-4. Harris and Mulholland also clinched the doubles’ point against NC State with an 8-4 win against Sophie Nelson and Nicole Martinez.
As the singles matches against both opponents began, Duke fed off the momentum from its doubles victories.
Goldfeld—ranked 51st nationally among singles players—increased her winning streak to five matches and moved to within a victory away of 100 career wins. The three-time All-ACC selection dominated Shumlina 6-1, 6-1 at the No. 1 spot and then outlasted Wolfpack sophomore Liza Fieldsend 6-2, 6-4 as a second seed.
Mulholland matched Goldfeld’s five-game winning streak against NC State. The Portland, Oregon native, whose recent run of success in singles dates back to Feb. 7, routed Nelson, 6-1, 6-0.
“Both Ester and Annie have been huge parts of our team,” Ashworth said. “There is really no situation that they haven’t seen. [Annie’s] played well and played smart. And Ester has been as solid as she has ever been. She’s played disciplined. Both of them have been doing a good job of setting example for everyone else.”
After sitting out singles against UNLV, junior Beatrice Capra returned to action against the Wolfpack to defeat the 104th-ranked Nalborska 6-1, 7-6.
No. 106 Harris also rebounded from her singles loss at Syracuse with a 6-2, 6-4 defeat of Ferenczi-Bako at the No. 2 position. The standout from Melbourne continued her success in the No. 3 spot against the Wolfpack, defeating Hande, 5-7, 6-2, 6-2.
The Blue Devils’ lone loss of the two-match series occurred when sixth-seeded sophomore Chalena Scholl retired N.C. State’s Tayla Stenta. Scholl, who missed the entire fall season and first 13 competitions of 2015 due to injury, also abandoned her doubles and singles matches against UNLV once Duke clinched the doubles point and recorded its third singles win.
Although she could not finish her matches, Ashworth believes her return to the lineup will help the team throughout the rest of conference play.
“Just having [Chalena] in there was big for our entire team,” Ashworth said. “That was the biggest thing for our whole team and our program. The more that she plays the better she’ll be and the better our team will be.”
The Blue Devils will rely on the confidence gained from the last six wins when they face off with No. 7 Virginia in Durham March 22.
“We’ve done a good job over the last two and a half weeks of mentally being the better team,” Ashworth said. “We have to keep doing that and keep trusting ourselves. If we can keep doing that then we’ll get the results we want.”
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.