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Duke women's tennis winning streak continues with comeback against Virginia

Senior Ester Goldfeld earned her 100th career victory Sunday against No. 8 Virginia.
Senior Ester Goldfeld earned her 100th career victory Sunday against No. 8 Virginia.

Down 2-0, the Blue Devils’ backs were against the wall. Their match against Virginia seemed to be heading in the same direction as their losses against other top opponents earlier this season.

But Duke had something else in mind.

The No. 24 Blue Devils rallied to defeat the No. 8 Cavaliers f4-3 Sunday at Ambler Tennis Stadium. Senior Ester Goldfeld picked up her 100th career victory along the way.

“Obviously, Virginia is a great team and they beat us twice last year,” head coach Jamie Ashworth said. “They beat us twice last year, once in the ACC finals and once in the regular season right after we won the ITA Indoor Team Championship. I think our level of intensity was very high today. We talked before the match about not giving an inch until the first ball was struck and we were able to do that today.”

With the win, Duke (11-5, 6-0 in the ACC) extended its winning streak to seven matches and gave Virginia (12-3, 5-1) its first loss since Feb. 7.

The Blue Devils first encountered adversity when they started off slow, surrendering the doubles point as they have done in all of their losses this season. The Cavaliers capitalized on Duke’s double faults and missed returns and first balls.

Duke’s second-seeded duo of Goldfeld and junior Beatrice Capra dropped their first two games en route to an 8-5 loss to the No. 23 team in the nation of Cassie Mercer and Skylar Morton.

Virginia then clinched doubles when Julia Elbaba and Maci Epsten defeated Duke’s No. 3 duo of sophomore Alyssa Smith and senior Rachel Kahan 8-5.

As the singles matches began, Ashworth’s squad knew what it had to do in order to pull off the comeback.

“I told them at the start of singles that if we can just make them go to big targets, and put pressure on them to give ourselves a chance," Ashworth said. "Rallies that are two balls or three balls long aren’t going to be in our favor against them. The longer the match went, the better off we would be.”

Samantha Harris first set the tone for Duke with a dominant 6-2, 6-1 victory against Stephanie Nauta at the No. 3 spot. The freshman phenom from Melbourne, Australia never gave the Nauta—25th-ranked player in the country—any breathing room. The win was especially important for the Blue Devils’ confidence since Ashworth’s teams have struggled against Nauta in the past.

The fourth-seeded Kahan evened the match at 2-2 with a 7-5, 6-4 win against Morton. The Unionville, Conn., native—ranked 106th nationally—never lost her composure as Morton fought back from early deficits in both sets.

Goldfeld then pulled out a 7-5, 6-4 win against No. 30 Danielle Collins at the No. 2. position, giving Duke its first lead in the match. Goldfeld did not allow her two losses to Collins last year to affect her play, as she rebounded and fought off her opponent’s comeback attempt from 5-2 down in the second set.

“Getting my 100th win against Virginia and especially against the opponent I played was sweeter than probably against most other teams," Goldfeld said. "It was definitely great to get the win today and get the win as a team. There was so much emotion, support, and teamwork. It was a great atmosphere to be a part of.”

Duke then clinched the match with senior Annie Mulholland’s courageous win against Cassie Mercer.

After dropping the first set and falling behind 5-3 in the second set, Mulholland suddenly picked up steam. The Portland, Ore., native fought back to win the second set 7-5 and then comfortably won the final set 6-2.

The top-seeded Capra had her eyes another come-from-behind win in her match against the nation’s No. 1 player in Julia Elbaba. Down one set, Capra picked up her play to take the second set 6-1 and extend the match. Elbaba repelled her comeback, however, by taking the final set 7-6—winning all seven points to take the tiebreaker.

Duke’s other loss in singles came when sophomore Chalena Scholl retired with an ankle injury at the No. 5 spot.

The win is crucial win for the Blue Devils' confidence as they finish off ACC play and begin the postseason. After several losses to top-10 opponents to begin the year, Duke now knows it can beat the nation’s elite squads.

The Blue Devils will look to preserve their undefeated ACC record when they welcome Pittsburgh Saturday at noon.

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