Duke Falls in Opening Round of ITA Indoors

Friday, February 6

Charlottesville, Va.

All Day

Duke University

Day One at National Team Indoors

Duke Singles, Doubles Fall in NCAA Semifinals

Duke Falls in Opening Round of ITA Indoors

2/6/2015 5:27:00 PM | Women's Tennis

By: Duke Sports Information

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- The fourth-ranked Duke women's tennis team put in a valiant effort, but ultimately fell to No. 20 TCU, 4-3, in the first round of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) National Women's Team Indoor Championship.

The Blue Devils (4-1) opened the contest by winning the doubles point, marking the third consecutive match Duke jumped out to a 1-0 lead over its opponent.

One week after clinching the doubles point for the Blue Devils, the tandem of senior Annie Mulholland and freshman Samantha Harris led Duke off the courts by earning a 6-4 win over TCU's Palina Dubavets and Alexis Pereira. Mulholland and Harris took an early 3-0 lead before the team of Dubavets and Pereira battled back and tied the match at 3-3. After winning two straight games to take a 5-3 advantage, the duo of Dubavets and Pereira won a game to pull within one. The Duke pair successfully closed out the match, however, winning the final game. The team of Mulholland and Harris owns a 4-1 record and is 2-0 in dual match contests.

On court two, redshirt senior Rachel Kahan and junior Beatrice Capra earned their first doubles win of the season after defeating TCU's Simona Parajova and Sofiko Kadzhaya, 6-2. The Duke doubles pair remained in control throughout the contest. After the match opened with the teams tied at 1-1, the Duke tandem won four straight matches to take a 5-1 lead, before concluding the match by the score of 6-2.

The match between Duke's team of senior Ester Goldfeld and sophomore Alyssa Smith and TCU's Stefanie Tan and Seda Arantekin was abandoned, with the TCU pair leading, 5-4.

After dropping the doubles point, TCU came out strong in singles, taking a 3-1 lead in the team scoring with victories at the No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4 positions.

Harris, the 55th ranked singles player in the nation, dropped her match to Parajova, 3-6, 4-6, while Kahan fell to Kadzhaya, 3-6, 3-6.

Harris and Parajova sat tied at 2-2 early in the first set before Parajova won three straight. Harris won her third game of the first set, before Parajova closed out the set, 6-3. Harris opened the second set by owning a 3-2 lead, but the Melbourne, Australia, native was unable to maintain the advantage, dropping the set, 6-4. Harris now owns an overall record of 11-2 and a dual match ledger of 3-1.

Kahan saw a lead in the opening set of her match with Kadzhaya, up 2-1, before dropping two consecutive games. With the set tied at 3-3, Kahan surrendered three games to drop the set. In the second set, Kahan trailed 2-4, but after winning a game to come within one of Kadzhaya, she dropped the final two games. Kahan now owns a 10-7 record this season and falls to 1-2 in dual match play.

On court four, Smith asserted herself early over Dubavets, winning the first set, 6-3. Smith was unable to maintain the momentum, however, dropping the second and third sets, 3-6, 2-6. The 6-3, 3-6, 2-6 defeat drops Smith's record this season to 8-9 and to 2-2 in dual match play.

Although the Blue Devils trailed 3-1, wins on courts one and five brought the match even at 3-3. Goldfeld, the 87th ranked singles player in the nation, downed her opponent, Tan, 2-6, 6-2, 6-4, while Smaller dropped Arantekin, 4-6, 6-1, 6-0.

Goldfeld trailed the entire first set, but rebounded nicely in the second. Goldfeld took a 2-1 lead and never relinquished her advantage to Tan, losing just one additional game before closing out the set, 6-2. The third set played out similarly to the first, with Goldfeld retaining a lead throughout the final set to clinch the match and win her fourth straight dual match of the season. The win also served as her first at the No. 1 position this season.

Smaller earned the first dual match win of her career with the victory over Arantekin on court five. Smaller put in a strong effort in the first set, but tied at 4-4, Arantekin won two straight games to take the set. In the second and third sets, Smaller showed true form, allowing Arantekin to win just one game over the next 12 to close out the match and bring Duke even with TCU.

With the match knotted at 3-3, the decision would come down to court six, the competition between Mulholland and Pereira. Mulholland fell in the first set, 3-6, but battled back in the second and won, 7-5, to force a third set. In the third set, Mulholland fell behind, 1-4, but after winning two straight games, she sat just one game behind Pereira. Mulholland and Pereira traded games, but with the final set at 4-5, Mulholland was unable to finish the comeback, dropping the set, 4-6. With the 3-6, 7-5, 4-6 loss, Mulholland owns an overall record of 11-6 and a dual match record of 3-2.

The Blue Devils return to competition tomorrow, facing Vanderbilt in a consolation match at 9 a.m.

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