Duke Posts 46th Straight Win Over N.C. State, 5-2

Thursday, March 2

Durham, N.C.

5 p.m.

Duke University

N.C. State

Melissa Mang Named ACC Co-Player Of The Week

Duke Posts 46th Straight Win Over N.C. State, 5-2

3/2/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis

By: Duke Sports Information

DURHAM, N.C. -- The No. 7 Duke women's tennis team notched its third consecutive 5-2 victory Thursday, downing No. 41 N.C. State to win its second match in two days over an Atlantic Coast Conference opponent. The win was the 46th by Duke over the Wolfpack, who have never beaten a Duke women's tennis team. Duke improves to 7-2 (2-0 ACC), while N.C. State falls to 9-2 (0-2 ACC).

As they have done in every match so far this season, the Blue Devils came out strong by winning the doubles point. With sixth-ranked Daniela Bercek and Jessi Robinson falling in the No. 1 match, Duke needed wins from both of its other pairs. The 42nd-ranked tandem of Melissa Mang and Jennifer Zika topped Julia Roach and Shona Lee, 8-5, and Kristin Cargill and Jackie Carleton clinched the point for the third straight match and the fifth time in the last six contests, defeating Nandita Chandrasekar and Elin Stahl Johansson, 8-3 at No. 2.

Sophomore Clelia Deltour, who led Duke in wins last year but has not played a dual match in 2006 due to injury, entered the singles lineup at No. 6 and came away with the first victory, posting a 6-0, 6-1, decision over Johansson. Deltour, who underwent surgery on her wrist, had not played a competitive match since the beginning of November at the Kitty Harrison Invitational.

Cargill put the Blue Devils up by two, taking a 6-3, 6-2 win over Chandrasekar on court four, but the Wolfpack responded with their first singles victory at No. 5 with Roach beating Duke's Robinson, 6-4, 6-3.

The matches at the top three positions each went into third sets. Without Bercek, who was resting a shoulder injury, No. 34 Carleton moved up to the top spot, and Mang played her first career match at No. 2. Mang and Carleton each won 6-2 in their first sets but dropped the second, Carleton by a margin of 6-4 and Mang, 6-3. Freshman Tara Iyer did the reverse on court three, falling in the first set, 6-2, but rebounding to win the second, 6-3.

N.C. State would need two straight wins to pull off the upset and beat Duke for the first time in school history, but Mang gave the Blue Devils the win with a 6-3 mark over Shona Lee. Down 3-2 in her last set, Mang won four straight games to take the match and improve her dual singles record to 8-1. With a 16-8 overall mark in singles during the 2005-06 year, Mang leads the Duke team in singles victories.

With the match already won by Duke, N.C. State recorded its second point with a win at No. 3. Alejandra Guerra topped Iyer 6-3 in the final set to win the match, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3.

Carleton improved her dual singles record to 7-2 with her first win this season at the No. 1 position, winning her third set, 6-2, over N.C. State's top singles performer, Barbara Orlay. After losing the middle set, Carleton dropped her first point in the third, but stormed back to a 4-1 lead and eventually won, 6-2.

Duke takes an 11-day break before heading to Florida for contests against Yale and Notre Dame in Orlando. The Blue Devils will face Yale, coached by former Duke player Katie Granson, on March 13 before taking on No. 5 Notre Dame March 15. Both matches will be played at 10 a.m.

Results
Doubles
1. #39 Barbara Orlay/Alejandra Guerra (N) def. #6 D. Bercek/J. Robinson (D), 8-2
2. K. Cargill/J. Carleton (D) def. Nandita Chandrasekar/Elin Stahl Johansson (N), 8-3
3. #42 Melissa Mang/Jenny Zika (D) def. Julia Roach/Shona Lee (N), 8-5
Order: 1,3,2*

Singles
1. #34 Jackie Carleton (D) def. Barbara Orlay (N), 6-2, 4-6, 6-2
2. Melissa Mang (D) def. Shona Lee (N), 6-2, 3-6, 6-3
3. Alejandra Guerra (N) def. #57 Tara Iyer (D), 6-2, 3-6, 6-3
4. Kristin Cargill (D) def. Nandita Chandrasekar (N), 6-3, 6-2
5. Julia Roach (N) def. Jessi Robinson (D), 6-4, 6-3
6. Clelia Deltour (D) def. Elin Stahl Johansson, 6-0, 6-1
Order: 6,4,5,2*,3,1