Duke Earns Win Over Elon in Dual Match Season Opener

Wednesday, January 20

Durham, N.C.

3:00 PM

Duke University

Elon

Duke Earns Win Over Elon in Dual Match Season Opener

1/20/2016 7:09:00 PM | Women's Tennis

Box Score: Duke 7, Elon 0

By: Duke Sports Information

DURHAM, N.C. – Freshman Kaitlyn McCarthy showed no signs of nerves in her dual match debut as she picked up a convincing, straight-set singles win on court one and helped the Blue Devils secure the doubles point as the 16th-ranked Duke women's tennis team posted a 7-0 win over Elon in a dual match season opener in Durham, N.C., Wednesday afternoon.

“We had a couple people not feeling great and a couple freshmen that have never played dual matches before, so it's a little bit of a different experience than playing a regular match,” head coach Jamie Ashworth said. “It's a different mindset and a different kind of pressure. I wasn't sure what to expect. Our freshmen handled themselves pretty well.”

Duke set the tone early with dominant doubles play, as the Blue Devils earned a 6-0 victory on court three and a 6-1 win on court one. The freshman duo of Ellyse Hamlin and Jessica Ho cruised in its first dual match of the year, defeating Elon's Olivia Lucas and Suzanne Zenoni by taking six consecutive games. While playing on court three, Hamlin and Ho opened the contest with a break and never surrendered a game en route to a 1-0 start to its dual match campaign. On court one, the pairing of sophomore Samantha Harris and McCarthy moved to 5-1 overall and 1-0 in dual matches with an equally efficient 6-1 win. Harris and McCarthy never trailed in the match, dropping their sole game after winning five straight.

The match on court two between juniors Chalena Scholl and Alyssa Smith and Elon's Erica Braschi and Taylor Casey remained unfinished, with the Duke pair trailing, 5-1.

The momentum from the doubles matches carried over onto the singles courts for the Blue Devils as Duke secured the team decision by winning three straight singles contests.

Duke was led off the singles courts by McCarthy, who downed Lucas, 6-0, 6-0, on court one. McCarthy, the 29th-ranked singles player in the nation, improved to 14-2 on the season, and helped move the team score to 2-0 with the victory.

“It was a good start for me,” McCarthy said. “I was happy with it. I think I can play better. I think I played better in Las Vegas, and hopefully this weekend I'll play better and better as my confidence builds.”

Scholl, the 79th-ranked singles player in the country, pulled Duke within a point of the win after defeating Zenoni, 6-3, 6-1. The Pampano Beach, Fla., native never trailed in the contest. With the first set tied at 1-1, Scholl won three straight games to take a 4-3 lead. Scholl held off a late run by Zenoni in the first set, who pulled within a game, by winning the final two games. In the second set, Scholl dropped just one game, but closed out by winning four straight to earn her sixth singles win of the year.

Ho, who was also competing in her first collegiate dual match, clinched the win for the Blue Devils following a 6-4, 6-1 win over Elon's Natalia Janowicz. Ho fought back from an early 2-3 deficit, winning three straight to take a 5-3 lead. Janowicz and Ho traded games to close out the first set. In the second set, Ho stormed out to an insurmountable 3-0 lead. Janowicz would take one game before Ho earned her seventh singles win of the year by making a three-game run.

Although the team result was decided, matches on courts two, five and six were played to their conclusions. On court six, redshirt freshman Christina Makarova improved to 2-1 with a 6-4, 6-1 win over Kamila Beisenova. On courts two and five, the matches required tiebreaks to decide the victor, with both Harris and Smith emerging as the respective winners. Harris defeated Braschi, 6-4, 6-7 (5-7), 1-0 (10-8), moving her record to 4-1 on the year, while Smith mounted a comeback to defeat her opponent, Casey, 3-6, 6-3, 1-0 (10-3) on court five to earn her sixth singles win of the 2015-16 season.

The Blue Devils return to action Friday, Jan. 22, with Duke beginning play in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Kick-Off Weekend against No. 67 Portland.

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