Blue Devils Stay Perfect in ACC Play; Beat Pitt 7-0

Saturday, March 28

Durham, N.C.

12:00 PM

Duke University

Pittsburgh

Blue Devils Stay Perfect in ACC Play; Beat Pitt 7-0

3/28/2015 3:39:00 PM | Women's Tennis

By: Duke Sports Information

DURHAM, N.C.—The Duke women's tennis team picked up a quick 7-0 win over Pittsburgh this afternoon in Sheffield Indoor Tennis Center to remain perfect in ACC play. The 17th-ranked Blue Devils dispatched the Panthers in just under three hours to pick up league win No. 7.

Duke (12-5, 7-0 ACC) made quick work of the Panthers in doubles play with 8-0 and 8-1 wins on courts two and three. Ester Goldfeld and Alyssa Smith were the first off the court with the 8-0 victory, the pair's fourth straight and sixth of the dual season. Beatrice Capra and Rachel Kahan followed suit minutes later by taking the 8-1 victory on court three for their team-leading fifth straight.

Singles got off to a slightly different start for Duke as the Panthers jumped on the Blue Devils and grabbed early leads on a few courts. Duke stayed the course and picked up momentum as the matches progressed and sacrificed just two sets overall on the day.

“We're a better team than them on paper so we talked before doubles about not giving them anything to feed off of,” said head coach Jamie Ashworth. “I think we won the doubles so fast and played really well too that I think we thought the same would happen in singles.”

Smith, in her second ACC match of the season, put the Blue Devils in front 2-0 with a 6-4, 6-3 triumph from the No. 5 position. In a tight affair, the sophomore pulled away in the second set to secure her 11th win of the year.

“Pittsburgh did the same thing last year when we played them,” Ashworth said. “They compete really well and they don't give up. They did a good job of that and knocked us back a little bit. We just need to be better all the way through the match.”

Rebecca Smaller, despite falling behind 4-2 in the opening set, pushed the Blue Devils' lead to 3-0 with a 6-4, 7-5 win on court six. After winning the final four games of the first set to take the early lead, Smaller found herself in a back-and-forth affair with Molly Wickman. Tied 5-5 in the second, Smaller won two straight games to move to 11-9 overall and 2-2 in ACC action.

With three courts nearing a finish to clinch the match for the Blue Devils, it was Annie Mulholland striking the final blow as she served out her 6-2, 6-4 victory on court four for the 4-0 Duke advantage. Samantha Harris and Kahan were right on her heels as they finished just minutes within each other to bring Duke's lead to 5-0.

Harris, after cruising through the opening set 6-2, was forced into a third set after her comeback efforts in the second came up just short. The freshman regained her composure and dominated Audry Ann Blakely in the third for the 6-2, 4-6, 6-0 win.

Kahan also used a big first set to earn her 15th win of the season. Amber Washington battled the Duke senior to a tiebreak in the second set, but it was Kahan emerging victorious 6-1, 7-6 (5).

Goldfeld closed the match out on court one with a 5-7, 6-1, 6-1 win. Down a couple breaks to Lolade Ogungbesan in the opening set, Goldfeld battled back to on serve only to narrowly lose 7-5. The native of Brooklyn, N.Y., native rode that momentum from the first through the next two sets, sacrificing just two games en route to her team-best 22nd win of the year.

“Ester doesn't let the score faze her,” Ashworth said. “Her opponent is a good player and I think Ester stayed focused at the end. She lost the first set, but it didn't faze her. She could have come out and struggled early in the second set, but she did a good job of putting that out of her mind.”

The Blue Devils return to action Sunday, March 29 against Georgia Tech. First serve is set for 12 p.m., at a site to be determined depending on the temperature.

Duke University Tennis
#17 Duke 7, Pitt 0

Singles
1. #38 Ester Goldfeld (DU) def. Lolade Ogungbesan (UP) 5-7, 6-1, 6-1
2. #55 Samantha Harris (DU) def. Audrey Ann Blakely (UP) 6-2, 4-6, 6-0
3. #109 Rachel Kahan (DU) def. Amber Washington (UP) 6-1, 7-6
4. Annie Mulholland (DU) def. Callie Frey (UP) 6-2, 6-4
5. Alyssa Smith (DU) def. Katherine Castro (UP) 6-4, 6-3
6. Rebecca Smaller (DU) def. Molly Wickman (UP) 6-4, 7-5

Doubles
1. Samantha Harris/Annie Mulholland (DU) vs. Audrey Ann Blakely/Callie Frey (UP) 5-2, unfinished
2. Ester Goldfeld/Alyssa Smith (DU) def. Katherine Castro/Lolade Ogungbesan (UP) 8-0
3. Beatrice Capra/Rachel Kahan (DU) def. Molly Wickman/Amber Washington (UP) 8-1