Blue Devils Head to No. 3 Ohio State for Non-Conference Match

DURHAM, N.C. – The 23rd-ranked Duke women's tennis team (11-3) will close non-conference action this weekend as the Blue Devils travel to Columbus, Ohio to face third-ranked Ohio State (11-3) Sunday, March 22 for a 12 p.m., contest at the Ty Tucker Tennis Center.

The Series with Ohio State
Duke and Ohio State will meet for the 13th time in program history with the Blue Devils leading the series, 8-4. The Buckeyes have won the last three meetings in 2024, 2025 and 2026. Overall, Ohio State has won four out of the last five meetings. In matches contested in Columbus, Ohio, Duke is 1-2.

Earlier this season at ITA National Team Indoors, Ohio State registered a tight, 4-2, victory over the Blue Devils. Duke dropped a close doubles point and then lost three 3-set matches in the defeat. Aspen Schuman and Claire An won their singles matches in the loss.

Scouting Ohio State
Ohio State owns an 11-3 overall and 4-1 mark in Big Ten action. The Buckeyes finished runner-up at the ITA National Team Indoors earlier this spring. Ohio State has dropped two out of its last three matches falling to Pepperdine (4-0) and Southern California (4-1).

Teah Chavez (#4), Luciana Perry (#5), Nao Nishino (#86) and Audrey Spencer (#100) are ranked nationally in singles. In doubles play, Hephzibah Oluwadare/Chavez (#14), Perry/Chavez (#76) and Flora Johnson/Perry (#84) are ranked.

Duke Versus the Big Ten
The Blue Devils own an all-time 138-32 record against Big Ten opponents – Illinois (8-1), Indiana (20-9), Iowa (2-0), Maryland (40-2), Michigan (12-3), Nebraska (2-0), Northwestern (22-5), Ohio State (8-4), Oregon (1-0), Purdue (3-0), UCLA (5-7), Southern California (3-0), Washington (4-0) and Wisconsin (8-1).

What is Next
Duke will head to the state of Virginia the following weekend for a pair of ACC contests at Virginia (March 27) and Virginia Tech (March 29).

ITA Rankings
Duke is currently No. 23 nationally in the ITA rankings as a team.

Head coach Jamie Ashworth has guided Duke to 21 top-10 preseason rankings in his 30 seasons as the head coach of the Blue Devils. Duke has been in the preseason top-16 nationally in each of the last 30 years under Ashworth.

In singles play, Irinia Balus (#19), Aspen Schuman (#89) and Eleana Yu (#112) are ranked. Duke features three doubles teams as well with Shavit Kimchi/Hovde (#18), Hovde/Balus (#40) and Eleana Yu/Claire An (#73).

Approaching 1,000 Wins as a Program
Duke is only one win away from reaching 1,000 victories as a program. The Blue Devils currently feature a 999-305 ledger over the 49 years of the program. In NCAA history, only three programs have reached 1,000 wins – Stanford, Florida and Georgia. Duke will become the fourth.

Various Duke Notes

Katie Codd totaled her seventh career match-clinching win this past weekend against Louisville. She has clinched two so far this season.
Shavit Kimchi owns 12 match-clinching wins in her career which ranks tied for 12th on Duke's all-time charts (Stats only available from 2005-06 to present)
Irina Balus (15), Liv Hovde (11) and Claire An (10) lead Duke with double-digit singles wins on the season.
Freshman Claire An recently registered both match-clinching wins against Boston College and Syracuse. They were the first two match-clinching victories of her career.
In just two seasons, Liv Hovde has totaled a 34-8 overall, 25-6 dual match and 14-2 ACC record in doubles play.
Freshman Aspen Schuman has opened her collegiate career with a 9-2 overall and 5-0 ACC ledger in singles action. In doubles play, Schuman is 6-3 overall and 3-1 in ACC play.
Duke sophomore Irina Balus registered a win over Texas' second-ranked Carmen Andreea Herea, 7-6 (7-3), 4-6, 6-4, in the National Team Indoors. It marked the highest ranked win of her collegiate career.

Balus with Impressive Wins
Irina Balus is 10-1 this season in dual match action and 15-6 overall. She owns seven wins against nationally-ranked opponents, including victories against No. 2 and No. 12 players nationally. She has won six matches in a row and 10 out of the last 11. Balus' win against No. 2 Carmen Andreea Herea of Texas marked just the 20th win in program history over a player ranked No. 2 or higher nationally.

Freshmen Impact
Claire An and Aspen Schuman have combined to open their collegiate careers with a 15-3 dual match record and 19-6 overall ledger. They are 8-0 in ACC action.

Doubles Team Nets Honor
The Duke tandem of Liv Hovde and Shavit Kimchi were named the ACC Doubles Team of the Week on Feb. 10, following the National Team Indoors.

Hovde and Kimchi collected a 2-1 record at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) National Team Indoors at the Atkins Tennis Center in Urbana, Illinois. The duo registered their first two ranked wins as the Blue Devils defeated Ohio State's 13th-ranked Hephzibah Oluwadare and Teah Chavez, 7-6 (7-2), and also knocked off 59th-ranked Tess Bucher and Alice Xu, 7-6 (7-3).

So far this season, Duke's duo has collected a 10-4 record. Hovde and Kimchi also advanced to the round of 16 at the NCAA Doubles Championship in the fall.

Balus Earns PNC Achievers Award
Duke women's tennis sophomore Irina Balus and fencing junior Dayaal Singh were named PNC Achievers of the Year for the 2024-25 campaign and were recognized at the Duke men's basketball game Feb. 14.

Since arriving on campus, Balus has made an immediate impact on the Duke women's tennis team. She is coming off a 2025 campaign where she earned ITA All-America honors, received as high as a No. 8 national ranking in singles and No. 8 in doubles and advanced to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Singles Championship. Balus, a native of Banská Bystrica, Slovakia, helped lead Duke to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Team Championship this past May and owns 27 wins over her first two seasons with the Blue Devils.

Blue Devils Add Aspen Schuman for Dual Match Action
In November, Duke head coach Jamie Ashworth announced the signing of Aspen Schuman. A native of Menlo Park, California, Schuman joined the Blue Devils in January.

Schuman has an Intercollegiate Tennis Federation (ITF) career high ranking of No. 31 and a Women's Tennis Association (WTA) career-best ranking of No. 931. In the Tennis Recruiting Network rankings, Schuman is listed No. 4 nationally and she has been listed as high as No. 1 in the United States Tennis Association (USTA) Girls' 18s national rankings. A six-time Junior Grand Slam main draw competitor, Schuman has won five ITF junior singles titles and is a two-time ITF W15 Tournament finalist.

Balus Earns All-America Accolades Once Again
For the second year in a row, Duke sophomore Irina Balus has earned All-America honors as she advanced to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Singles Championship in the fall.

Balus became just the fourth Blue Devil to earn All-America accolades in each of their first two seasons in Durham – Amanda Johnson (2001, 2002), Kelly McCain (2002, 2023) and Vanessa Webb (1996, 1997).

Balus won five out of her final seven matches to conclude the fall and owns a career singles mark of 24-16.

The Head Coach
Head coach Jamie Ashworth is in his 30th season with the Blue Devils and owns an impressive 647-165 ledger. In 2024, Ashworth registered his 600th victory on Jan. 20 in a 4-2 win over Illinois. He accomplished this mark in only 747 matches, becoming the quickest coach to 600 wins.

Quickest to 600 Wins – 747 matches by Jamie Ashworth (Duke), 749 by Jeff Wallace (Georgia), 779 by Brian Kalbas (William & Mary/North Carolina), and 785 by Lin Loring (UC Santa Barbara/Indiana).

Ashworth became the seventh NCAA Division I coach to reach the 600-win ledger – Lin Loring (846), Jeff Wallace (818), Brian Kalbas (797), Jay Louderback (703), Geoff MacDonald (631), Gualberto Escudero (631) and Jamie Ashworth (636) (wins entering the 2026 season).

Among the winningest coaches of all time, Ashworth ranks 10th with a 79.9 winning percentage, sixth with 647 wins, third for winningest active coaches by percentage (79.9) and second for winningest active coaches by victories (647).

Big Sets for Little Hearts
The Duke men's and women's tennis programs announced a partnership with the Duke Children's Hospital Pediatric and Congenital Heart Center called Big Sets for Little Hearts in the fall of 2024.

Big Sets for Little Hearts pledges will be made based on the number of sets won by the men's and women's tennis programs.

If you are interested in supporting Blue Devil tennis' partnership with Duke Children's, you can pledge for each set won during the season or make a one-time donation. Pledges start at $0.10, $0.50, $1.00 and $2.50. Based on last year's results, the smallest pledged donation would be equal to $64.70. For more information or to donate, click here.

The Duke Children's Pediatric and Congenital Heart Center is the No. 2 ranked pediatric cardiology and heart surgery program in the United States for newborns and children with congenital and acquired heart disease. The Duke Pediatric and Congenital Heart Center strives to improve their patients' outcomes and the quality of their lives.

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

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Blue Devils Head to No. 3 Ohio State for Non-Conference Match

Players Mentioned

Claire An

Irina Balus

Katie Codd

Liv Hovde

Shavit Kimchi

Aspen Schuman

Eleana Yu

Duke information

Blue Devils Head to No. 3 Ohio State for Non-Conference Match

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Players Mentioned

Claire An

Irina Balus

Katie Codd

Liv Hovde

Shavit Kimchi

Aspen Schuman

Eleana Yu

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