Duke Downs Pittsburgh, 5-2, on the Road

Friday, March 18

Pittsburgh, Pa.

4:00 PM

Duke University

Pittsburgh

Harris Named ITA Carolina Region Rookie of the Year

Duke Downs Pittsburgh, 5-2, on the Road

3/18/2016 7:50:00 PM | Women's Tennis

Box Score: Duke 5, Pittsburgh 2

By: Duke Sports Information

PITTSBURGH, Pa. – The eighth-ranked Duke women's tennis team picked up its 11th victory of the season Friday after defeating Pittsburgh, 5-2, in Pittsburgh, Pa. Duke improved to 11-2 on the season, 4-1 in ACC play and 3-0 against the Panthers all-time with the result.

"I thought we did a good job of putting pressure on them from the first ball and taking over the net [in doubles]," head coach Jamie Ashworth said. "We tried to keep the points short and tried to impose ourselves on them by being really aggressive. I think we did a good job with that."

After dropping the doubles point in back-to-back matches, the Blue Devils returned to its winning ways in doubles action, earning the point to give Duke a 1-0 lead ahead of singles.

The Blue Devils earned victories on courts one and three to secure the doubles point. Freshman Kaitlyn McCarthy and sophomore Samantha Harris posted their 10th win of the year after defeating Pittsburgh's Lolade Ogungbesan and Amber Washington, 6-3. After each team took a game, McCarthy and Harris won two straight to take a 3-1 lead. Although the Blue Devil team would surrender two games as well, tying the set at 3-3, Harris and McCarthy put together a three-game run to improve to 10-3 on the season.

The freshman duo of Ellyse Hamlin and Jessica Ho secured the doubles point for Duke after downing Callie Frey and Carina Ma, 6-3. The Duke tandem remained in control throughout the match, never trailing after taking a 2-0 lead. Although Frey and Ma would pull within a game twice, with the score sitting at 3-2 and again at 4-3, Hamlin and Ho would take the final two games to earn the doubles point for Duke and move to 2-0 on the year.

Prior to the wins on courts one and three, the doubles tandem of juniors Chalena Scholl and Alyssa Smith fell to Audrey Ann Blakely and Gabriela Rezende, 6-3. With the match tied at 1-1, the Blue Devil duo dropped three straight games to fall behind, 4-1. Scholl and Smith were unable to overcome the deficit, dropping just their fourth match of the year.

Duke, already with a one-point lead following doubles play, picked up singles wins on courts one, three, four and five to pull away from the Panthers and earn the win.

Pittsburgh tied the match after redshirt freshman Christina Makarova fell to Washington, 6-1, 6-3. In the first set, Makarova fell behind, 5-0, before winning a game. In the second set, Makarova led 3-0, but was unable to close out the set, as Washington won six consecutive games to hand Makarova just her fourth loss of the year.

Scholl, the 67th-ranked singles player in the nation, helped put Duke back up 2-1 after defeating Ogungbesan, 6-2, 6-3, on court one. Scholl has posted impressive play recently, extending her consecutive wins streak to five matches. The Pompano Beach, Fla., native took an early 2-1 lead in the first set and never looked back, winning four of the next five games to own a one-set advantage. In the second set, Scholl trailed, 2-1, but remained unfazed, winning four straight games to take a 5-3 lead. Although Ogungbesan would take an additional game, Scholl successfully closed out to win her 15th match of the year.

Hamlin, the 106th-ranked singles player, pulled Duke within a point of the victory after downing Frey, 6-4, 6-3, on court four. The two competitors remained evenly matched, with ties at 1-1, 2-2 and 3-3 in the opening set before Hamlin took three of the next four sets to win the first set. In the second set, Hamlin jumped out to a 4-1 lead before Frey fought back to pull within a game of Hamlin. Hamlin closed out the match and picked up her 10th win of the season by winning the final two games.

The team competition was ultimately decided on court three, in a match between Harris and Ma, with Harris winning in straight sets, 7-6 (7-3), 6-1. The first set proved to be a back-and-forth affair, as Harris took a 3-1 lead but lost the lead when Ma tied the set at 3-3. After Harris won a game to go up, 4-3, Ma won back-to-back games to take a 5-4 lead of her own. Harris, not to be outdone, won two straight games herself to take a 6-5 advantage. The match was then retied when Ma won a game, however Harris pulled out the first-set victory by winning the tiebreaker, 7-3. In the second set, Harris asserted herself and won three straight games to open the set. After Ma won a game, Harris took three straight to earn the win for the Blue Devils. Harris moves to 11-5 with the result.

The match on court five between Ho and Rzende was played out with Ho fighting back from an early deficit to pick up a 4-6, 6-0, 6-3 win. Ho improved to 12-6 on the season. McCarthy's match on court two against No. 123 Blakely was also concluded after the contest was clinched, with Blakely earning a 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 victory. McCarthy, the 32nd-ranked singles player in the nation, falls to 20-6 with the result.

The Blue Devils remain on the road, traveling to Louisville, Ky., to face the Louisville Cardinals at 11 a.m.

#GoDuke

#8 Duke 5, Pitt 2

Singles competition
1. #67 Chalena Scholl (DU) def. Lolade Ogungbesan (UP) 6-2, 6-3
2. #123 Audrey Ann Blakely (UP) def. #32 Kaitlyn McCarthy (DU) 3-6, 6-4, 6-2
3. Samantha Harris (DU) def. Carina Ma (UP) 7-6 (7-3), 6-1
4. #106 Ellyse Hamlin (DU) def. Callie Frey (UP) 6-4, 6-3
5. Jessica Ho (DU) def. Gabriela Rezende (UP) 4-6, 6-0, 6-3
6. Amber Washington (UP) def. Christina Makarova (DU) 6-1, 6-3

Doubles competition
1. Kaitlyn McCarthy/Samantha Harris (DU) def. Lolade Ogungbesan/Amber Washington (UP) 6-3
2. Audrey Ann Blakely/Gabriela Rezende (UP) def. Chalena Scholl/Alyssa Smith (DU) 6-3
3. Ellyse Hamlin/Jessica Ho (DU) def. Callie Frey/Carina Ma (UP) 6-3