Upcoming Event: Women's Tennis at Kitty Harrison Invitational on September 12, 2025
Women's Tennis
at Kitty Harrison Invitational
Friday, April 15
Coral Gables, Fla.
5:00 PM
Duke University
5
at
2
Miami
Duke Clinches ACC Title; Defeats No. 5 Miami 5-2
4/15/2011 10:11:00 PM | Women's Tennis
CORAL GABLES, Fla.-The Duke University women's tennis team remained unbeaten in Atlantic Coast Conference play with a hard-fought 5-2 victory over fifth-ranked Miami this evening at the Neil Schiff Tennis Center. Senior Reka Zsilinszka clinched the win for No. 3 Duke with a 6-3, 6-3 victory from the No. 3 singles spot.
Duke (21-2) pushes its win streak to 13 matches as the Blue Devils clinched at least a share of the ACC regular season title. Duke is 10-0 against conference foes and improves to 11-2 against top 25 opponents this season.
"I think this is only the second time we've beaten [Miami] here since I've been at Duke," head coach Jamie Ashworth said. "It says a lot about our team and our fight. It was a total team effort and even the matches we lost we kept them on the court and kept cheering everyone on. It was an all-around team effort tonight."
The Blue Devils battled their way through doubles, earning the crucial first point of the match. The tandem of Mary Clayton and Monica Gorny were the first off the court, winning 8-5 at No. 3. The Hurricanes (17-4, 9-1 ACC) evened the score as the sixth-ranked duo of Bianca Eichkorn and Anna Bartenstein posted the 8-3 win from the top spot.
The first point of the match came down to Duke's Hanna Mar and Nadine Fahoum on court two. The pair outlasted Miami's Gabriela Mejia and Melissa Bolivar 9-8 (4) to put the Blue Devils up 1-0 heading into singles.
Clayton picked up right where she left off in doubles, making quick work of Bolivar at No. 6 with a 6-3, 6-0 victory. The win was her 26th of the season and ninth in the previous 10 matches. With Duke holding a 2-0 lead, the Hurricanes got on the board with a win from sixth-ranked Eichkorn at No. 1.
"This is such a tough place to play and I think we relaxed a little after coming off of really close doubles point," Ashworth said. "But the depth of our lineup is so tough to beat and everyone did a great job fighting. Even on courts one and two we were able to fight and keep [Miami] on the court and that was huge for us."
Freshman Rachel Kahan picked up her 23rd straight victory at No. 5 to make it 3-1 in favor of the Blue Devils. Kahan used a dominating second set for the 6-4, 6-0 win to push her season record to 24-1 overall and 10-0 against conference foes.
After Miami made it a 3-2 match with a win at No. 2, Duke rattled off two straight victories to post the 5-2 win. Zsilinszka, ranked 18th nationally, registered her team-best 29th win of the year and seventh straight in a straight-set win over Kayla Rizzolo. Senior Elizabeth Plotkin completed the contest as she forced a third set after dropping the first. The San Francisco native defeated Mejia 4-6, 6-4, 1-0 (6) for her 27th victory of the year
The Blue Devils will close out the regular season on Sunday, April 17 at Florida State. The match is slated to begin at 12 p.m.
#3 Duke 5, #5 Miami 2
Apr 15, 2011 at Coral Gables, Fla. (Neil Schiff Tennis Center)
| Singles competition |
| 1. #6 Bianca Eichkorn (UM) def. #38 Nadine Fahoum (DU) 6-2, 6-3 |
| 2. #45 Anna Bartenstein (UM) def. #80 Ella Nze (DU) 7-5, 6-4 |
| 3. #18 Reka Zsilinszka (DU) def. #120 Kayla Rizzolo (UM) 6-3, 6-3 |
| 4. #58 Elizabeth Plotkin (DU) def. Gabriela Mejia (UM) 4-6, 6-4, 1-0 |
| 5. #73 Rachel Kahan (DU) def. Danielle Mills (UM) 6-4, 6-0 |
| 6. #79 Mary Clayton (DU) def. Melissa Bolivar (UM) 6-3, 6-0 |
| Doubles competition |
| 1. #6 Bianca Eichkorn/Anna Bartenstein (UM) def. #66 Ella Nze/Rachel Kahan (DU) 8-3 |
| 2. #81 Hanna Mar/Nadine Fahoum (DU) def. Gabriela Mejia/Melissa Bolivar (UM) 9-8 (7-4) |
| 3. Mary Clayton/Monica Gorny (DU) def. Danielle Mills/Brittany Dubins (UM) 8-5 |
-d-u-k-e-
Players Mentioned
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