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 March 27-April 2.
Men’s lacrosse
In an electric clash against the top-ranked team in the nation, No. 4 Duke took down No. 1 Virginia Friday at Klockner Stadium 16-14. Junior attackman Brennan O’Neill had a season-high six goals on the night while adding three assists and five ground balls to boot. His stellar performance was bolstered by the likes of Garrett Leadmon and Dyson Williams, who each added three goals to the Blue Devil tally. Duke (10-1, 3-0 in the ACC) will travel to South Bend, Ind., Saturday to face off against No. 3 Notre Dame before returning home for a rematch against Virginia. -Mackenzie Sheehy
Women’s lacrosse
No. 20 Duke had a rollercoaster of a week. After riding the high of last Sunday’s first ACC win against Pittsburgh, the Blue Devils (6-6, 1-5) saw their momentum come crashing to a halt Saturday. In graduate goalie Sophia LeRose’s first start since Feb. 15, Duke was caught in a back-and-forth battle with Virginia Tech. Both Katie DeSimone and Lexi Schmalz recorded hat tricks, but the Hokies responded to each Blue Devil push, tying the game in the final three seconds of regulation and keeping Duke at bay until Maura O’Malley found the back of the net in the third overtime period. The Blue Devils will finish below .500 in conference play and have another midweek break before they take on the 11th-ranked Cavaliers Saturday in Charlottesville, Va. -Rachael Kaplan
Baseball
After a 13-1 blowout loss Friday night, Duke bounced back over the weekend to take two of three games against Pittsburgh. Blue Devil bats exploded Saturday and Sunday, scoring 11 runs in Saturday’s victory and eight in Sunday’s. One dark spot of Duke’s week came Friday night, when pitcher Jonathan Santucci left in the fourth inning with an injury. There have been no official updates on his status. The Blue Devils (18-10, 6-6) will play again Tuesday, when they welcome No. 14 Campbell to Durham Bulls Athletic Park. -Martin Heintzelman
Softball
No. 11 Duke battled against No. 20 Virginia Tech in a three-game series this weekend, ultimately taking down the Hokies with a 2-1 record. The Blue Devils (28-8, 10-5) opened the away slate with a big 7-1 win Saturday behind a grand slam from sophomore standout Ana Gold. However, Sunday told a different story. Duke put the first contest of the day away 5-1 behind a phenomenal seven-inning performance from junior pitcher Jala Wright. Yet with the series done and dusted, the Blue Devils dropped the final game 13-8, as four hurlers took the mound to stop the bleeding. Duke will travel to Wilmington, N.C., Wednesday for a double-header against UNC Wilmington before returning home to face Elon Friday. -Sheehy
Men’s tennis
It was an extremely successful week for No. 21 Duke, continuing its strong ACC showing. In the Blue Devils’ first match of the week, they defeated No. 16 Wake Forest 4-3 in a tight match. Freshman Pedro Rodenas was the clinching victory, defeating Filippo Moroni in three sets. Rodenas has been excellent in ACC play, only falling once in singles thus far. Duke (15-5, 8-1) followed this up with another home victory against No. 23 N.C. State. Notably, the top five singles courts all won for the Blue Devils. Duke has Friday off and will take on North Carolina Saturday in Chapel Hill. -Ranjan Jindal
Women’s tennis
The eighth-ranked Blue Devils powered through this week as they advanced to 13-0 at home and 20-2 overall. After dominating doubles against No. 11 Miami, Duke (20-2, 9-1) struggled in singles as Miami was able to tie the match at 3-3 overall. Ellie Coleman stepped up to defeat her opponent in three sets, giving the Blue Devils the match win 4-3. With Chloe Beck out of the lineup Saturday, Duke triumphed despite the difficulty of back-to-back matches. Despite the schedule, the Blue Devils defeated Florida State 6-1, with the one loss coming from Cameron Morra’s forfeit due to medical issues. Next, Duke hosts Wake Forest at 5 p.m. Thursday. -Anna Newberry
Track and field
The script flipped a bit this week for the Blue Devils. They did not slow down — but the fastest runners took the weekend off, leaving room for the field to shine. At the VertKlasse Meeting in High Point, N.C., Duke dominated events all across the board, most notably clinching gold in the men’s discus per a record-breaking performance from graduate thrower Robbie Otal. Meanwhile, the rest of the Blue Devils worked together to claim 24 top-five results over the two-day stretch. And as has become increasingly commonplace, they won the women’s 4x400m relay. The next time that Duke gears up to race will be at home when the team welcomes schools to the Duke Invitational Thursday. -Sophie Levenson
Men’s golf
Duke continued its spring campaign last week in Palm City, Fla., at the Valspar Collegiate Invitational, a highly competitive 54-hole stroke play tournament. The Blue Devils finished joint-ninth alongside Wake Forest. Individually, freshman William Love and sophomore Luke Sample played especially well, with Love finishing in the top 10 for his third tournament and Sample shooting a collegiate-best 66 during round three. Four Duke golfers also traveled to Wilmington, N.C., last week for the Seahawk Intercollegiate. The Blue Devils take on Lonnie Poole Golf Club this week for the Stitch Intercollegiate, the last tournament before the ACC Championships. -Sammy Marks
Rowing
It was a solid weekend outing for the 12th-ranked Blue Devils, who came out with victories in several events during the ACC-Big Ten Double Dual. On Friday, Duke came out with four victories against No. 9 Michigan, including wins in the 3V4, 2V4, V8 and 2V8. The Blue Devils followed that up with a solid performance against No. 14 Ohio State Saturday, despite strong winds and rain. Duke came out of Saturday with wins in the 3V4 and the V4. This weekend, the Blue Devils will head down to Sarasota, Fla., for the Big Ten Invitational. -Heintzelman
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