Blue Devils Drop Road Match at No. 3 Ohio State, 4-0

Sunday, March 22

Columbus, OH

12:00 p.m.

Duke University

Ohio State

Photo by: Todd Drexler

Blue Devils Drop Road Match at No. 3 Ohio State, 4-0

3/22/2026 4:27:00 PM | Women's Tennis

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

COLUMBUS, OHIO — The 23rd-ranked Duke women's tennis team dropped a road contest Sunday afternoon at third-ranked Ohio State, 4-0, to close non-conference action at the Ty Tucker Tennis Center.

The Blue Devils fell to 11-4 overall, while the Buckeyes improved to 12-3.

How It Happened

In doubles action, Ohio State jumped out to leads on all three courts early and eventually took the point to hold a 1-0 lead.
The Buckeyes' 14th-ranked tandem of Hephzibah Oluwadare and Teach Chavez totaled a 6-1 win on court one against Duke's 18th-ranked Liv Hovde and Shavit Kimchi.
OSU clinched the point with a 6-1 victory on court two as 84th-ranked Luciana Perry and Flora Johnson defeated the Blue Devil tandem of Aspen Schuman and Claire An.
When the doubles point was clinched, Duke's Eleana Yu and Irina Balus were tied, 4-4, with Audrey Spencer and Sophia Cisselgnatiev on court three.
In singles play, Ohio State won the first set on four of the six courts to continue the momentum from winning doubles.
Fourth-ranked Chavez gave OSU a 2-0 lead as she defeated Hovde, 6-2, 7-6 (7-0), on court two.
The Buckeyes then went ahead, 3-0, as 86th-ranked Nao Nishino totaled a 6-2, 6-4 win against Duke's 112th-ranked Yu on court five.
On court four, Duke's Kimchi faced 100th-ranked Spencer. Kimchi dropped the first set, 6-4, but opened the second set with a 3-0 lead. Spencer came back though and sent the match to a tiebreaker where she won, 7-4, and clinched the Ohio State victory.
Continuing her impressive play, Duke's 19th-ranked Balus faced another stellar test on court one as she went up against fifth-ranked Perry. After dropping the first set, 6-4, Balus came back to win the second, 6-2. In the third set, Balus fell behind, 1-0, but came back to go ahead, 4-2, and led 5-4 when the match was clinched.
Duke's 89th-ranked Schuman won the first set, 6-1, against Cisselgnatiev on court three, but dropped the second, 6-3. Cisselgnatiev was leading, 4-3, when the match was clinched.
An was also leading Johnson on court six, 6-4, 6-5, when the match finished.

Notes

Ohio State has won four in a row against Duke, but the Blue Devils still lead the series, 8-5.
Earlier this season, Ohio State defeated Duke, 4-2, in the ITA National Team Indoors.
The Blue Devils remain one win away from reaching 1,000 career wins in program history.
Duke failed to score a point in a match for the first time since May 5, 2024 when the Blue Devils lost, 4-0, to Tennessee in the NCAA Tournament second round.

Quotes

"We just honestly didn't compete very well. As soon as we got down, whether it was doubles or singles, we just didn't handle ourselves very well in those situations. Disappointing and something we definitely need to do better. We need to handle ourselves better when things don't go our way. If it's not perfect, we need to figure out a way to handle ourselves better and keep our composure on the court. Today, we just honestly didn't do a very good job of that at all." -- Duke head coach Jamie Ashworth
"They had a tough match a couple weeks ago and she's top five in the country for a reason. Irina handled herself well and gave herself a chance to win there at the end. You feel bad they can't finish that match. But collectively, we just have to be better so that situation doesn't happen." -- Duke head coach Jamie Ashworth on play of Irina Balus in singles

Next Match

Duke remains on the road this week as the Blue Devils resume ACC action at Virginia (March 27) and Virginia Tech (March 29). The match against the Cavaliers will take place at 4 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

#3 Ohio State 4, #23 Duke 0
March 22, 2026
Columbus, Ohio * Ty Tucker Tennis Center

Doubles
1. #14 Hephzibah Oluwadare/Teah Chavez (OSU) def. #18 Liv Hovde/Shavit Kimchi (DUKE) 6-1
2. #84 Luciana Perry/Flora Johnson (OSU) def. Aspen Schuman/Claire An (DUKE) 6-1
3. Audrey Spencer/Sophia CisseIgnatiev (OSU) vs. Eleana Yu/Irina Balus (DUKE) 4-4, unfinished

Singles
1. #5 Luciana Perry (OSU) vs. #19 Irina Balus (DUKE) 6-4, 2-6, 4-5, unfinished
2. #4 Teah Chavez (OSU) def. Liv Hovde (DUKE) 6-2, 7-6 (7-0)
3. Sophia CisseIgnatiev (OSU) vs. #89 Aspen Schuman (DUKE) 1-6, 6-3, 4-3, unfinished
4. #100 Audrey Spencer (OSU) def. Shavit Kimchi (DUKE) 6-4, 7-6 (7-4)
5. #86 Nao Nishino (OSU) def. #112 Eleana Yu (DUKE) 6-2, 6-4
6. Flora Johnson (OSU) vs. Claire An (DUKE) 4-6, 5-6, unfinished

Order of Finish: Doubles (1,2*) Singles (2,5,4*)