Seventh-Ranked Blue Devils Sweep No. 40 Yale, 7-0

Tuesday, March 18

Durham, N.C.

5:00 PM

Duke University

Yale

Photo by: Duke Athletics

Seventh-Ranked Blue Devils Sweep No. 40 Yale, 7-0

3/18/2025 9:54:00 PM | Women's Tennis

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DURHAM, N.C. – After being on the road for the last six matches, the seventh-ranked Duke women's tennis team returned home and played its first outdoor match at Ambler Tennis Stadium on Tuesday evening. The Blue Devils registered a 7-0 victory over 40th-ranked Yale to win their seventh-straight contest.

Duke improved to 12-2 overall, while Yale dropped to 9-5.

HOW IT HAPPENED

After dropping the first game, Duke's Shavit Kimchi and Ava Krug came back to win three straight games to go ahead, 3-1, to kick off doubles play.Yale's Julia Werdiger and Angela Huang won the next game, but the Blue Devils closed the match with three straight wins to post a 6-3 victory.
Duke then clinched the doubles point on court six as Emma Jackson and Liv Hovde collected a 6-4 win over Erin Ha and Mirabelle Brettkelly.Jackson and Hovde won the first game, but Ha and Brettkelly responded by winning the next two to take a 2-1 lead.The Blue Devils then went on a run winning three games to go ahead, 4-2.The Bulldogs were not done though as they were able to even the ledger, 4-4.Jackson and Hovde held strong winning the next two games to notch a 6-4 win.
On court one, Duke's 13th-ranked Ellie Coleman and Irina Balus were tied, 4-4, against Orly Ogilvy and Shyla Aggarwal when the point was clinched.
The Blue Devils continued with the momentum in singles building early leads on four of the six courts.
Balus, who is ranked No. 12 nationally, made quick work of Aggarwal on court two winning 6-2, 6-2 to give Duke a 2-0 lead.
On court five, 125th-ranked Coleman won her fifth straight match with a 6-0, 6-4 victory over Brettkelly to put a third point on the board for the Blue Devils.
Seeing action on court four, 33rd-ranked Yu jumped out to a 2-0 lead against Ha, but Ha evened the ledger, 2-2.Yu then gained control of the match winning four out of the next five games to win the first set, 6-3.In the second set, Yu built a 4-1 lead, but Ha cut into the advantage bringing the score to 5-4.Yu, who is from Mason, Ohio, closed the match with a 6-4 victory in the second set to clinch the win for Duke.
After falling behind 3-1 early, Duke's 66th-ranked Kimchi evened the score, 3-3, against Werdiger.Werdiger went ahead 5-3, but Kimchi kept battling as she tied the score, 5-5, and then took a 6-5 lead.Eventually, Kimchi registered a 7-3 tiebreaking win to clinch a 7-6 victory in the first set.She never trailed on court three in the second set winning 6-2.
Coming off a trip to her home state of California, junior Katie Codd fought back from being down 2-1 in the first set to Huang to win 6-3.Codd, who is from Carlsbad, Calif., then won the second set, 6-3, to give Duke a 6-0 lead.
Facing her first ranked singles opponent, Hovde took on 108th-ranked Orly Ogilvy on court one.Hovde, a product of Daniel Island, S.C., won the first game, but Ogilvy responded by winning six out of the next eight games to take the first set, 6-3.Hovde dropped the first game of the second set, but came back to win five in a row to go ahead, 5-1.She won the second set, 6-2, sending her match to a third set for the second time as a Blue Devil. Hovde led 5-1 early in the third, but Ogilvy came back to cut the lead to 5-4, before Hovde closed out the 6-4 win in the third.

NOTES

The Blue Devils shutout their opponent for the third straight match.
Eleana Yu totaled her second match-clinching point of the season. Yu is now 13-5 on the year and 12-2 all-time in dual match play.
Shavit Kimchi collected her fourth win in a row to move to 30-20 over her career in singles play.
Rookie Liv Hovde totaled her first win against a ranked opponent to move to 3-1 overall on the year.
Duke's doubles team of Kimchi and Ava Krug moved to 4-2 on the year, while Emma Jackson and Hovde improved to 4-1.

QUOTES

"It's a little different. This is a match on paper that we're supposed to win so it's a different mindset and different approach. The biggest thing for us in those moments and in those matches is not to play scared and not play defensive. For the most part, we did. I thought we got off to a little sluggish start in doubles, but in singles were just deeper and better than them." --Duke head coach Jamie Ashworth on Duke riding a six-match winning streak heading into the match and carrying that momentum into the match
"We definitely have some big ones coming up with NC State, Wake and UNC -- the next three.That's going to play a big factor in where we are in April and May. But we have a team, I think, that rises to that.The challenge is can you play at a high level when you need to be a high level and make sure it's not an on and off switch.I think that starts in practice. We're prepared to play those matches. We just have to take care of what we need to do. Like I said, make sure that we're ready to compete at a high level -- so if it takes 12 balls to win a rally, be able to stay out there and do that and have confidence in that."--Duke head coach Jamie Ashworth on the upcoming tough schedule ahead
"I think as a team we are doing really well. So, it's good for us to keep winning matches.Every match is tough, so I think we're really resilient out here.It was our first outdoor match [at home], so I think we did really well."--Duke freshman Liv Hovde

NEXT MATCH

Duke remains at home this weekend as the Blue Devils host 10th-ranked NC State on Friday, March 21 at 6 p.m., along with 37th-ranked Wake Forest on Sunday, March 23 at 2 p.m.

To stay up to date with Blue Devils women's tennis, follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook by searching "DukeWTEN".

#GoDuke

#7 Duke 7, #40 Yale 0
March 18, 2025
Ambler Tennis Stadium * Durham, N.C.

Doubles
1. #13 Ellie Coleman/Irina Balus (DU) vs. Orly Ogilvy/Shyla Aggarwal (Yale) 4-4 unfinished
2. Shavit Kimchi/Ava Krug (DU) def. Julia Werdiger/Angela Huang (Yale) 6-2
3. Emma Jackson/Liv Hovde (DU) def. Erin Ha/Mirabelle Brettkelly (Yale) 6-4

Singles
1. Liv Hovde (DU) def. #108 Orly Ogilvy (Yale) 3-6, 6-2, 6-4
2. #12 Irina Balus (DU) def. Shyla Aggarwal (Yale) 6-2, 6-2
3. #66 Shavit Kimchi (DU) def. Julia Werdiger (Yale) 7-6 (7-3), 6-2
4. #41 Eleana Yu (DU) def. Erin Ha (Yale) 6-3, 6-4
5. #125 Ellie Coleman (DU) def. Mirabelle Brettkelly (Yale) 6-0, 6-4
6. Katie Codd (DU) def. Angela Huang (Yale) 6-3, 6-3
Order of Finish: Doubles (2,3*), Singles (2,5,4*,3,6,1)