Duke Rallies for 4-3 Win Against No. 8 Virginia

Sunday, March 22

Durham, N.C.

11:00 AM

Duke University

Virginia

Duke Rallies for 4-3 Win Against No. 8 Virginia

3/22/2015 6:00:00 PM | Women's Tennis

By: Duke Sports Information

DURHAM, N.C. – A late rally, a large comeback on court six from senior Annie Mulholland and senior Ester Goldfeld's 100th career victory helped the No. 24 Duke women's tennis defeat No. 8 Virginia, 4-3, on Sunday inside Ambler Tennis Stadium. The Blue Devils lost the doubles point and trailed 2-1 overall before three-straight singles wins clinched the match for Duke.

“Obviously Virginia is a great team,” head coach Jamie Ashworth said. “They beat us twice last year, once in the ACC championship and once in the regular season right after we won the ITA Indoor Team Championship. I think our level of intensity was very high today. We talked before the match about not giving an inch until the last ball was struck. I think we did a good job with that today.”

The victory extends the Blue Devils' win streak to seven matches and pushes the team's record in ACC action to 6-0. The last time Duke had a 6-0 or better mark in league matches was during the 2011-12 campaign, when the squad finished 11-0 in conference play. The top-10 victory was also the team's first since downing No. 5 UCLA on Feb. 10, 2014.

Individually, Goldfeld became the 24th player in Duke history to reach the 100-victory plateau as she defeated Danielle Collins, 7-5, 6-4, on court two. Goldfeld has dropped just 36 singles matches at Duke and owns a career record of 100-36 (.735). Mulholland dropped her first set on court six, 6-2, and fell behind, 4-1, in the second set before coming back to win the second set, 7-5, and then take the third set, 6-2.

“It was a great team win,” Goldfeld said. “It was such a great effort by everyone. There was so much emotion, support and teamwork. It was a great atmosphere to be a part of.”

Sunday afternoon marked the first time in five matches that Duke dropped the doubles point, falling on courts two and three. Virginia's Julia Elbaba and Maci Epstein downed Rachel Kahan and Alyssa Smith, 8-5, on court three to begin the doubles action. It was the first time this year Kahan and Smith had played together in doubles.

On court two, the Cavaliers secured the doubles point with No. 23 Skylar Morton and Cassie Mercer downing Goldfeld and Beatrice Capra, 8-5. Goldfeld and Capra fall to 1-1 this year in doubles action.

On court one, Virginia's Collins and Stephanie Nauta led Duke's Mulholland and Samantha Harris, 5-3, when the match was halted.

The Blue Devils quickly evened the match at 1-1 overall with a court three, 6-2, 6-1, victory by No. 106 Harris against No. 25 Nauta. Harris had 5-1 leads in both sets in route to her first career win against a top-25 opponent. Harris' previous top triumph was against No. 85 Kanika Vaidya of Columbia in October. Harris also improved to 5-1 in ACC matches with the win.

Virginia regained in the lead at 2-1 when Duke's Chalena Scholl retired on court five. The Cavaliers' Epstein held a 6-3, 3-1 advantage when the match was halted.

Duke again had the answer, evening the match at 2-2 as No. 105 Kahan defeated Morton, 7-5, 6-3, on court four. Kahan snuck out to a 5-3 lead in the first set, but Morton answered by winning consecutive games to tie it at 5-5. It was then Kahan with the response, taking the last two games of the set. In the second set, Kahan took a 4-1 lead before it was narrowed to 4-3. Just like the first set, Kahan had the final answer with consecutive wins to end the set. Kahan lifted her overall record to 14-12 and is 4-1 in ACC action

The Blue Devils took their first lead of the day from Goldfeld, who downed No. 30 Collins, 7-5, 6-4, on court two. Goldfeld held a 5-3 lead in the opening set before Collins recorded back-to-back wins to even it at 5-5. Goldfeld dug in and captured the final two games of the set. The second set was even at 2-2 before Goldfeld rattled off three wins to go ahead 5-2. Collins responded with back-to-back wins to cut it to 5-4. Goldfeld served out for the win and ended the match. Goldfeld improved to 21-9 on the season and 7-1 on court two. She is also 5-1 in ACC action.

“Getting that 100th win against Virginia, and especially against the opponent I played, made it a little bit sweeter,” Goldfeld said. “I lost to Collins twice last year, so it was great to get the win today.”

“That was a huge win for Ester,” Ashworth added. “She had lost to Collins twice last year and Collins was the NCAA individual champion last spring. On top of that, it was her 100th career win so I'm sure she was a little nervous and feeling a little pressure. She just played really well.”

Duke clinched the match with a 2-6, 7-5, 6-2 court-six triumph from Mulholland against Mercer. In the first set Mercer took a 3-1 lead, but Mulholland cut the deficit to 3-2 before Mercer answered with three consecutive wins to capture the set. In the second set, Mercer jumped out to a 4-0 lead before Mulholland came storming back to tie it at 5-5 and then win 7-5. With the third set tied 2-2, Mulholland ripped off four wins in a row to seal the set and match. Mulholland improves to 17-6 overall and is now 5-0 in ACC matches.

The final match of the day went to Elbaba on court one as she defeated Capra 7-5, 1-6, 7-6 (0). Elbaba, the nation's No. 1 player, took a 5-2 lead in the first set before Capra fought back to tie the set at 5-5. Elbaba then won back-to-back games to end the set. Capra cruised through the second set in 6-1 fashion. Elbaba got out to a 3-1 lead in the third set before Capra rallied to even it at 3-3, and again at 4-4. Capra took a 5-4 lead, but Elbaba won two straight and served for the match before Capra broke to result in a 6-6 tie. In the tiebreaker, Elbaba swept her way through for the win. The narrow defeat drops Capra to 6-5 overall and 3-2 in ACC play.

Duke returns to action at 12:00 p.m. ET Saturday, welcoming Pittsburgh to Ambler Tennis Stadium. The Blue Devils finish next weekend at 12:00 p.m. Sunday against Georgia Tech.

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