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 11-17.
Women’s tennis
The ninth-ranked Blue Devils earned their biggest win of the season Friday night, ending No. 1 North Carolina’s pursuit of perfection to enter the postseason with serious momentum. Duke (16-3, 11-2) fought hard to earn the doubles point and each of junior Chloe Beck, senior Georgia Drummy and freshman Ellie Coleman took down their singles opponents, but it was senior Kelly Chen who clinched the win on court four to celebrate her Senior Night in style. Having now won five straight matches, the Blue Devils travel to Rome, Ga., as the No. 2 seed in this week’s ACC Championship, where their double bye means they won’t play until Friday. -Jonathan Levitan
Women’s lacrosse
After more than a week between games, No. 7 Duke was back in action for a top-10 Saturday showdown with No. 2 Boston College. The Blue Devils (15-1, 6-1) never trailed in the contest, but it took a highlight alley-oop goal from senior Maddie Jenner with less than 90 seconds remaining for Duke to secure the 16-15 Senior Day win. The Blue Devils were led by graduate student Abby Landry, who tallied her third hat trick in as many games, and senior goalie Sophia LeRose, who made a number of crucial saves against the Eagles. Duke will wrap up its regular season with a Thursday-night clash against No. 1 North Carolina, where it will be looking to take down its rival for the first time since 2014. -Jonathan Browning
Men’s lacrosse
After a rough, narrow defeat to Notre Dame the week before, No. 14 Duke stormed to a commanding 17-8 win against No. 6 Virginia to even its ACC record Thursday. Many Blue Devils impressed on the day, headlined by four goals and a career-high four assists from sophomore attacker Brennan O’Neill, a career-best-tying 20 saves from graduate goalie Mike Adler and additional hat tricks from junior Dyson Williams and freshman Reed Landin. Ahead of the afternoon faceoff, Virginia was undefeated in conference play while Duke (10-5, 2-2) was still fighting to secure an NCAA tournament bid. Though not over the finish line just yet in that regard, it was a win that certainly got the Blue Devils a substantial bit closer to that goal. -Andrew Long
Baseball
What a week it was for Duke. Despite losing the week-opener 10-6 to Campbell in an offensive-dominated game, the Blue Devils (16-20, 6-12) rallied when it mattered, sweeping No. 10 Notre Dame in the weekend’s three-game series. Duke put up an absurd 15 runs Thursday night and while it barely scraped by the following day, winning 4-3 in 11 innings, the Blue Devils returned with a dominant 6-2 victory Saturday. Duke outscored the Fighting Irish 25-10 in the series behind five Alex Mooney RBI, a 474-foot moonshot home run by sophomore first baseman Luke Storm and a spectacular catch by freshman center fielder Devin Obee that made highlight reels all across the internet. Duke has another shot Tuesday at Liberty before traveling to Georgia Tech for the weekend series. -Alex Jackson
Women’s golf
It was ACC Championship time for the Blue Devils this past week, and there were certainly some major bright spots from the week down in Pawleys Island, S.C. While Duke fell Saturday in the match-play semifinals to Florida State, seeing its bid for consecutive team titles come up short, Phoebe Brinker and Erica Shepherd were No. 1 and No. 2 on the individual leaderboard at the conclusion of stroke play Friday. Brinker separated herself from the pack with a second-round 65 and finished off her first college win with a Friday 71. Shepherd was 7-under over the final 36 holes to finish second, six shots back of her teammate. Now, the Blue Devils await their seed and regional site, which will be announced during the April 27 NCAA Regional Selection show. -Max Rego
Softball
The ninth-ranked Blue Devils obliterated James Madison in a midweek doubleheader Tuesday, taking both games by run rule. Duke (34-5, 14-2 in the ACC) went yard ten times in the opener, with three homers off the bat of graduate student Jameson Kavel and two from starting pitcher Claire Davidson for a final score of 24-2. Sophomore pitcher Jala Wright also got in on the fun, knocking a pinch-hit single. Who says pitchers can’t hit? Later in the afternoon, every Duke starter except graduate pitcher Peyton St. George crossed home at least once. St. George’s six innings of one-run ball left James Madison in the dust and Duke with a 10-1 win. The Blue Devils are on the road again Wednesday against Liberty. -Molly Honecker
Men’s tennis
No. 19 Duke capped off an otherwise fantastic regular season with two losses to No. 20 N.C. State and No. 8 Wake Forest. The Blue Devils (16-7, 8-4) were unable to win the doubles point in either contest, as struggles in doubles have been a common theme this season. Friday, the Blue Devils didn’t muster a single victory against the Wolfpack, who quickly secured the 4-0 win. The team attempted to bounce back Sunday against the Demon Deacons but was again stopped short in a 4-2 defeat. Nonetheless, Duke men’s tennis ends the regular season with an impressive record and will look to rebound in the ACC Championship beginning April 21. -Robert Miron
Men’s golf
Duke had a tough loss at the I-40 Cup in Raleigh, N.C., falling 4.5-3.5 in its matchup against N.C. State. Duke’s younger guys took care of business: sophomore Jimmy Zheng and freshmen Kelly Chinn and Luke Sample each won their matchups while sophomore Daniel Uranga got the half point for the Blue Devils. The I-40 Cup was Duke’s last regular-season tournament and it will travel to Panama City, Fla., for the ACC tournament starting Thursday. -Jonah Pilnick
Rowing
Duke put together an impressive showing at the Big Ten Invite in Sarasota, Fla., beginning the weekend by sweeping their races Friday morning. The Blue Devils ended up winning six races, putting them third in the field in terms of total wins, trailing just No. 4 Michigan and No. 5 Stanford. The 2V8 and V4 closed out the weekend with narrow victories against No. 20 Indiana. The Blue Devils’ 2V8 has now won eight of its nine spring races this season. Duke looks ahead to the Lake Wheeler Invitational this weekend, which it will be co-hosting with North Carolina. -Cameron DeChurch
Track & field
The Blue Devils continued to show championship DNA at the Meet of Champions in High Point, N.C., this past weekend. The 16th-ranked women claimed first in seven events, including senior Dana Baker in the javelin, sophomore Brianna Smith in the high jump and sophomore Halle Bieber in the 100m and 200m. The highlights of the day, however, were once again in the women’s relays, where the 4x400m squad of Abby Geiser, Lauren Hoffman, Carly King and Nikki Merritt blew past every other team by nearly three seconds to set a new facility record. Hoffman set another facility record in the 400m hurdles, while the 4x100m relay also added itself to that illustrious list. Duke next travels to Charlottesville, Va., Friday and Saturday for the Virginia Challenge. -Long
Football
In its first bit of under-the-lights action since November, Duke played its annual Blue & White Game Saturday evening. The White team came out on top 28-14, with a 97-yard, two-touchdown game from sophomore quarterback Jordan Moore eclipsed in yards only by the Blue team's Riley Leonard's 246-yard performance. The defense impressed across the board, especially sophomore linebacker Tre Freeman. The Durham native registered nine tackles and an early-game pick to round out a compelling display of what's to come from head coach Mike Elko’s reinvented defense. Duke’s first official game will take place Sept. 2 against Temple at home. -Long
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