No. 6 Blue Devils Take No. 2 Florida to the Wire

Sunday, February 13

Durham, N.C.

12:00 PM

Duke University

Florida

No. 6 Blue Devils Take No. 2 Florida to the Wire

2/13/2011 4:39:00 PM | Women's Tennis

By: Duke Sports Information

DURHAM, N.C.-The sixth-ranked Duke University women's tennis team gave No. 2 Florida everything it could handle today, dropping its first match of the year in a 4-2 setback to the Gators. The contest came down to the final two matches as Florida escaped with the win to remain unbeaten.

"I thought that we learned a lot about ourselves today," head coach Jamie Ashworth said. "I think that we proved to ourselves that we can play with any team in the country. That's a really good team. We're not sitting in our locker room right now happy with our result. I think that we know we had opportunities to beat them and it's disappointing because we had opportunities and you don't get opportunities very often against teams like that."

The match started out in thrilling fashion with doubles coming down to the end. The Florida (7-0) tandem of Alexandra Cercone and Caroline Hitimana jumped out to a 5-0 lead before Duke's Nadine Fahoum and Hanna Mar mounted a comeback to pull within a break at 6-4 at No. 3. The Gators held off the late charge by Duke (6-1) to earn the first win of the day, 8-6.

At No. 1, it was the Gators that came through with a comeback as the nation's top-ranked duo of Allie Will and Sofie Oyen rallied from a 7-3 deficit to earn the 9-7 victory and clinch the crucial doubles point. Duke's top pair of Ellah Nze and Mary Clayton, playing together for the first time this season, went up on an early break with a 2-0 lead and continued to roll as it built the 7-3 advantage. The Gators started to gain momentum in the final games and completed the comeback to the 9-7 win.

"I was surprised that we got off to an early lead," Nze said. "That was the first time Monica and I have played together. Even though we lost 9-7, that team is ranked No. 1 in the country and for us to come out and really have them on their heels is definitely a confidence booster going into nationals."

The match on court three went unfinished with Duke's Reka Zsilinszka and Elizabeth Plotkin leading 7-5.

Florida carried the momentum from doubles into singles play, winning four of the six first sets. The Gators won the second sets in matches at No. 1 and No. 3 to gain a 3-0 lead with four matches left to play.

Duke's Zsilinszka and Clayton grabbed wins in their first sets on courts two and six, while the pair of Rachel Kahan and Nze fought back to even the match at one set apiece with convincing second sets.

On court six Clayton continued to cruise through the second set, en route to a 6-3, 6-3 win over Olivia Janowicz to cut Florida's lead to 3-1. Meanwhile, Kahan continued her stellar play on court five as she blanked Cercone in the third set for the 2-6, 6-2, 6-0 victory. She remains unbeaten on the year in dual matches and improves to 9-1 overall, while Clayton is 13-5 overall and 4-1 in dual matches.

With Florida leading 3-2 with two matches left, the tension continued to mount in the Sheffield Indoor Tennis Center. On court four, Nze and Joanna Mather were embroiled in a thrilling finish that proved to decide the match. After Nze put together a dominating 6-0 win in the second set, Mather came back and matched the Blue Devils senior shot for shot to pick up the 6-3, 0-6, 6-3 victory and clinch the win for the Gators.

Zsilinszka, up a set at No. 2, and Lauren Embree traded shots throughout the second set. However, it was Embree who came away with crucial breaks to force a third set. The match went unfinished after Mather won at No. 4.

Duke returns to action next weekend at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association National Team Indoor Championship hosted by the University of Virginia on Feb. 18-21. The draws will be announced this coming week.

"I think going into next weekend at National Team Indoors with the top 16 teams in the country I think our expectations should be really high, especially after today. I think we learned that there's no one in the country that we should be scared of or intimidated by."

#2 Florida 4, #6 Duke 2
Feb 13, 2011 at Durham, N.C. (Sheffield Indoor Tennis Center)

Singles competition

1. #7 Allie Will (FLA) def. #25 Nadine Fahoum (DU) 6-2, 6-2

2. #4 Reka Zsilinszka (DU) vs. Lauren Embree (FLA) 6-4, 3-6, unfinished

3. #96 Sofie Oyen (FLA) def. #71 Elizabeth Plotkin (DU) 6-4, 6-3

4. #30 Joanna Mather (FLA) def. #49 Ellah Nze (DU) 6-3, 0-6, 6-3

5. Rachel Kahan (DU) def. #28 Alexandra Cercone (FLA) 2-6, 6-2, 6-0

6. Mary Clayton (DU) def. #22 Olivia Janowicz (FLA) 6-3, 6-3

Doubles competition

1. #1 Allie Will/Sofie Oyen (FLA) def. Ellah Nze/Monica Gorny (DU) 9-7

2. Lauren Embree/Joanna Mather (FLA) def. Nadine Fahoum/Hanna Mar (DU) 8-6

3. Reka Zsilinszka/Elizabeth Plotkin (DU) vs. Alexandra Cercone/Caroline Hitimana (FLA) 7-5, unfinished