Upcoming Event: Women's Tennis at Kitty Harrison Invitational on September 12, 2025
Women's Tennis
at Kitty Harrison Invitational
Saturday, May 11
Durham, N.C.
TBA
Duke University
4
vs
0
Pennsylvania
Blue Devils Advance To Sweet 16 With 4-0 Sweep Of Pennsylvania
5/11/2002 1:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
May 11, 2002
DURHAM, N.C. - For the 12th consecutive year, the fourth-ranked and fifth-seeded Duke women's tennis team advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament with a 4-0 victory over 56th-ranked Pennsylvania on Saturday at the Ambler Tennis Stadium in Durham, N.C. The Blue Devils will next play on May 16 in Palo Alto, Calif. against the winner of the South Carolina/Virginia Commonwealth match.
Duke (25-4) kicked off the action by taking the doubles point after registering wins at number two and three. At the third slot, the Blue Devil tandem of Katie Granson/Prim Siripipat knocked off Raluca Ciulei/Nicole Ptak, 8-1, and the Blue Devil duo of Julie DeRoo/Saras Arasu defeated Alice Pirsu/Shelah Chao, 8-3.
The Blue Devils went up 2-0 after junior Hillary Adams (New York, N.Y.) cruised to a 6-0, 6-0 victory over Rachel Shweky at the sixth position. Duke's Ioana Plesu (Saint-Foy, Quebec Canada) picked up her second consecutive win of the weekend as the senior recorded a 6-0, 6-1 victory over Nicole Ptak and Granson knocked off Shelah Chao of Pennsylvania (6-3, 6-1) to clinch the match.
Duke played its second consecutive match without 23rd-ranked Amanda Johnson (Bettendorf, Iowa) who is recovering from mononucleosis. She is expected to play at the NCAA Championships in Palo Alto, Calif. next week.
The Quakers conclude their season with a 15-6 record.
Singles 1.#5 Kelly McCain (Duke) vs. #24 Alice Pirsu (Penn) DNF 2.#35 Julie DeRoo (Duke) vs. Sanela Kunovac (Penn) DNF 3. Ioana Plesu (Duke) def. Nicole Ptak (Penn) 6-0, 6-1 (2) 4. #63 Saras Arasu (Duke) vs. Raluca Ciulei (Penn) DNF 5. Katie Granson (Duke) def. Shelah Chao (Penn) 6-3, 6-1 (3) 6. Hillary Adams (Duke) def. Rachel Shweky (Penn) 6-0, 6-0 (1)Doubles 1. #26 Hillary Adams/Kelly McCain (Duke) vs. Sanela Kunovac/Rachel Shweky (Penn) DNF 2. Julie DeRoo/Saras Arasu (Duke) def. Alice Pirsu/Shelah Chao (Penn) 8-3 3. Katie Granson/Prim Siripipat (Duke) def. Raluca Ciulei/Nicole Ptak (Penn) 8-1
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Post Match Quotes
Duke's Ioana Plesu
On playing in the NCAA Tournament:
"This weekend was great. My first NCAA was weird since it was coming as a senior, but I have been enjoying it a lot. I have seen it three times from the fence, but it is good to be on the court now."
Duke Head Coach Jamie Ashworth
"In the matches we won, that was the most dominating performance against a ranked team all year. To lose only five games in three matches in the singles and in doubles to lose three games in the matches we won is great. It is good to see we got better after yesterday, which is expected, and hopefully we can get better and better heading to the NCAA Championships."
"As a team we are playing well. It is encouraging heading in to next week."
Penn Head Coach Michael Dowd
"We came out today wanting to beat Duke. We thought we could do it. I have to give my hat off to Duke as they played very, very tough."
Players Mentioned
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