Sportswrap is your one-stop shop for everything Duke athletics, where we’ll recap how each of Duke’s sports currently in competition performed over the last week and give a brief look ahead. Here’s our recap for the week of April 4-10.
Women’s lacrosse
The Blue Devils traveled up to Blacksburg, Va., for a road matchup Thursday night against Virginia Tech. The game came down to the wire, with No. 7 Duke (14-1, 5-1 in the ACC) nearly giving up a five-goal lead in the fourth quarter, but a Maddie Jenner draw control with less than two minutes left was enough to secure the 15-14 Blue Devil victory. Sophomore attacker Katie DeSimone led the way for the Duke offense with five goals and graduate student Catriona Barry matched a program record with six assists. With the win, the Blue Devils matched the program's best start since 2006. Up next is a Saturday afternoon showdown with No. 2 Boston College at Koskinen Stadium. -Jonathan Browning
Men’s lacrosse
No. 15 Duke took a tough blow, falling 16-15 to No. 13 Notre Dame at home Saturday during Alumni Weekend. Despite outscoring the Fighting Irish in each of the last three quarters, the Blue Devils’ 7-3 deficit after the first proved too large to overcome. Still, there was plenty to like about Duke’s performance, with the defense especially coming into its own, logging six caused turnovers to Notre Dame’s four and getting critical stops late to get the Blue Devils (9-5, 1-2 ) back in contention. Meanwhile, freshman midfielders Reed Landin and Andrew McAdorey each posted hat tricks, along with sophomore attacker Brennan O’Neill and graduate midfielder Nakeie Montgomery, with Landin’s being the first of his career. The Blue Devils will look to build on those positives Thursday when they take on No. 7 Virginia at home. -Sasha Richie
Men’s golf
Duke had a big weekend in Cary, N.C., at the Stitch Intercollegiate. Thirteen teams participated and Duke was able to walk away with its first team win of the season with a final score of 861 (-3). Senior Quinn Riley was the big story of the weekend, finishing with a score of 212 (-4) for the individual win. Freshman Kelly Chinn also had a great performance with a score of 214 (-2), good for sixth place. Freshmen Luke Sample and John Peters didn’t finish too far behind, as they tied for 10th place at 218 (+2). It’s clear that Duke’s freshmen are stepping up as postseason play approaches. -Jonah Pilnick
Women’s golf
In their last event before this week’s ACC Championship, the Blue Devils won one of three matches at the Wolfpack Match Play Invitational. During Sunday’s matches against North Carolina and Florida State, only Erica Shepherd and Megan Furtney picked up wins, as Duke fell 4-1 twice. Monday against Notre Dame, though, was different, as the Blue Devils took care of business in a 4-0-1 victory. Shepherd is now 11-4-1 in match play in her collegiate career, a stat that bodes well for her entering the postseason. Now, the Blue Devils head down to Pawley's Island, S.C., for the conference’s flagship event, in which they will battle the likes of Wake Forest, Virginia and Florida State from Thursday through Sunday in an attempt to capture their 23rd ACC title. -Max Rego
Softball
The fiery Blue Devil offense continued burning this week, leading No. 9 Duke to an 11-1 win against UNC Greensboro and a three-game sweep of Virginia. The Blue Devils (32-5, 14-2) dismissed UNC Greensboro in five frames after notching nine runs in the fourth inning with the help of a Kamryn Jackson grand slam. Over the weekend, the Blue Devils collected ten hits in each of their bouts with the Cavaliers. Six players had multi-RBI performances, including senior Deja Davis, who brought in three of Duke's six runs in the second game of the series. Duke remains in Virginia for a Tuesday doubleheader against James Madison and a Wednesday matchup against Liberty before heading to Syracuse for the weekend series. -Molly Honecker
Baseball
After getting taken to extra innings by Longwood, Duke fell back into the wrong column with its three-game set on the road against Wake Forest. While the Blue Devils (13-19, 3-12) got one game this past week to go their way—on a 13th-inning walk-off walk against the Lancers—their struggles against conference foes continued over the weekend with 5-2, 6-3 and 16-11 defeats to extend their ACC losing streak to six. The offense did not help out until late in the third game of the series, at which time the Blue Devils were already down 12-3. Their seven-run eighth brought them back to a two-run deficit, but the back end of the bullpen again couldn’t keep the game in check. Duke next faces Campbell at home Tuesday before hosting Notre Dame beginning Thursday. -Micah Hurewitz
Women’s tennis
The 10th-ranked Blue Devils collected a pair of wins at home this weekend, defeating Georgia Tech and Clemson. In its Friday evening match against the Yellow Jackets, Duke (15-3, 10-2) kept the momentum going after securing the doubles point, with Margaryta Bilokin, Kelly Chen, Ellie Coleman and Chloe Beck notching wins in their singles matches for the team to finish with a 5-2 victory. Sunday afternoon, the Blue Devils dominated from start to finish to capture a 6-1 win against Clemson. The team looks to finish the regular season Friday on a high note in a tough rivalry matchup against No.1 North Carolina. -Hawkins
Track & field
In its only home meet of the year, Duke showed out. The Lauren Hoffman-led women’s 4x400m placed first with a meet-record 3:38.05, the quartet of Halle Bieber, Maya Provencal, Kelcie Simmons and Abby Geiser moved into fourth all-time for Duke in the 4x100m after their victory, Michaela Reinhart claimed the 1500m with her 4:19.68 mark and sophomore Moorea Mitchell again broke her personal best in the hammer throw to place fourth. On the men’s side, Gage Knight took the decathlon, Chris Theodore placed in the top five in the 5000m, Miles Mingo finished second in the 400m, Nick Dahl grabbed silver in the 800m and Michael Fairbanks finished third in the pole vault. Duke next travels to High Point, N.C., for the Meet of Champions Saturday. -Andrew Long
Men's tennis and rowing did not compete this past week. In men's tennis, No. 19 Duke returns to action Friday against No. 21 N.C. State. In rowing, the 12th-ranked Blue Devils travel to Sarasota, Fla., Friday for the Big Ten Invite.
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