They say the devil is in the details. But in Durham, the Blue Devils are in the details — and numbers:
10
The men’s tennis team, who earned the No. 12 seed in the NCAA tournament, has found a key piece to its success in freshman Pedro Rodenas. The Madrid native has won his last 10 matches, and he recently qualified for the NCAA Singles Championship while simultaneously earning a bid to the Doubles Championship with senior Garrett Johns. As if that were not enough, Rodenas was named ACC Rookie of the Year Monday. The Blue Devils will need the best from their standout freshman as they start their path in the NCAA tournament. They first play UNC Wilmington before facing the winner of No. 41 Cornell and No. 23 Auburn. Should the team advance past the second round, it faces a potential rematch against No. 5-seed Virginia, a team that has beaten Duke twice – and whose Jeffrey Von Der Schulenburg was the last player to defeat Rodenas.
3
After earning the No. 6 seed in the NCAA tournament, Duke women’s tennis received more good news Tuesday as three Blue Devils were selected for the NCAA Singles Championship. Senior Chloe Beck, sophomore Emma Jackson and graduate student Georgia Drummy all earned the nod. It is the second time competing for Beck and Drummy, and after season-long dominance on the number one court for Duke, Beck received the No. 6 overall seed. Drummy will look to make it back to the round of 16, which she reached in 2021. Jackson, on the other hand, is set to make her first appearance after notching a 21-11 singles record on the season and ranking inside the top 42 throughout the entire season. All three players will first compete in the team competition, with the Blue Devils hosting the first two rounds.
5.07
Duke men's lacrosse standout Brennan O’Neill finished the regular season averaging 5.07 points per game, good for sixth in the nation. In the Blue Devils’ ACC title-clinching victory against Syracuse, the junior attackman poured in four goals on six shots on net while adding two assists. The Bay Shore, N.Y., native has been a driving force in Duke’s dominant attack all season, and he has shown that he can step up in the big moments. He scored a season-high nine points in a March 31 win against then-No. 1 Virginia, proving he can rise to the occasion under pressure. The first-ranked Blue Devils will continue to rely on O’Neill moving forward as they vie for a national title.
15
Duke men’s baseball, after entering the month with a losing record in the ACC, has surged to the top of the Coastal Conference behind a 15-3 performance in April. The run featured two ranked midweek wins against then-No. 14 Campbell and three straight ranked weekend series wins – two of which were on the road. Junior catcher Alex Stone, who is in the middle of an 18-game hit streak, mashed seven home runs in April while freshman pitcher Andrew Healy was named the Dick Howser Player of the Month. Perhaps the most exciting win of the month came April 21 against Louisville, when the Blue Devils found themselves trailing 9-6 entering the ninth. Sophomore Alex Mooney came up to the plate with the bases loaded, and the captain delivered with an emphatic walk-off grand slam. Heading into the final month of the regular season, Duke is catching fire at the right time.
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Dom Fenoglio is a Trinity sophomore and an assistant Blue Zone editor of The Chronicle's 119th volume.