Women’s Tennis Rallies Past Miami, 4-2; Advances to ACC Semifinals

Friday, April 17

Durham, N.C.

3:30 p.m.

Duke University

Miami

Photo by: Duke Athletics

Women’s Tennis Rallies Past Miami, 4-2; Advances to ACC Semifinals

4/17/2026 9:51:00 PM | Women's Tennis

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CARY, N.C. — The fourth-seeded and 18th-ranked Duke women's tennis team defeated the fifth-seeded and No. 32 ranked Miami Hurricanes, 4-2, late Friday afternoon in the quarterfinals of the 2026 ACC Championship at the Cary Tennis Park in Cary.

Despite losing the doubles point for just the eighth time this season, Duke dominated the singles competition to rally back to advance to the semifinals for the 31st time in school history. Freshman Aspen Schuman clinched the contest for the fourth match in a row and won her sixth consecutive singles match.

How It Happened

After a delayed start, the Blue Devils opened the match solidly on court three, as Duke's duo of sophomore Liv Hovde and freshman Aspen Schuman cruised a quick 3-0 lead. Miami bounced back taking a game, making it 3-1 before Duke closed it out, 6-2.
On court two, freshman Claire An and junior Eleana Yu dropped the first two games before battling back to even things up, 3-3. Miami's Sebastianna Scilipoti and Sofia Rocchetti pulled away to make it 5-3, and despite a key Duke service hold at 5-4, carried the match, 6-4. The doubles point then came down to court one.
Junior Shavit Kimchi and sophomore Irina Balus found themselves down, 4-1, on court one, before two subsequent breaks of Miami's serve allowed them to tie it up at 4-4. The Hurricanes, however, immediately broke back to make it 5-4 and would serve for the doubles point. The Blue Devils powered through this game with a 40-15 break in return to tie it again at 5-5. A key deuce point put Duke up, 6-5, but Miami was able to force a tiebreaker. Miami's Raquel Gonzalez and Dominika Podhajecka took the lead early in the tiebreaker and never looked back winning the doubles point, 7-6 (7-3).
Duke rallied back from the contentious doubles point loss as it won the first set in singles on three out of six courts.
Balus, who is ranked No. 14 nationally, put the Blue Devils on the board with a 6-4, 6-0 victory over 42nd-ranked Gonzalez on court one. After falling behind 2-1, Balus leveled at 2-2 and never trailed again, closing the first set, 6-4, despite a late push from Gonzalez. Balus then steamrolled through the second set without dropping a game, evening the overall match, 1-1.
On court five, Kimchi gave Duke its first lead of the match as she defeated Volosova, 6-2, 6-2. Kimchi jumped out to a 4-0 lead before dropping two games, but ended up taking the first set with a 6-2 ledger. She then created another quick 3-0 lead in the second and won a key deuce point at 3-2 to carry the rest of the set, 6-2.
After falling behind, 3-0, on court No. 3, Hovde won six games in a row to take the set, 6-3. She then had a key deuce point break against 99th-ranked Ogunwale to go up, 4-2, in the second before closing out the match 6-4, putting Duke one match away from the win.
The Hurricanes got back on the board as Scilipoti defeated An, 6-4, 6-3 on court No. 4. An kept the first set close with a tie at 4-4 before Miami went up a break to carry the set, 6-4. Despite being tied, 1-1, An struggled to capture a lead in the second falling 6-3.
On court two, No. 48 ranked Schuman clinched the match for the Duke with a gutsy 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 defeat of 63rd-ranked Rocchetti. After dropping the first set, 6-3, Schuman flipped the script in the second — breaking Rocchetti twice to race to a 5-1 lead before closing it out with a 6-2 score. She carried that dominance into the third, pulling away to another 5-2 lead and holding off a late deuce battle to seal the deal, 6-2, sending the Blue Devils to the semifinals.
On court six, Yu dropped the first set 6-4, then completely turned the match around with a dominant 6-3 second set — breaking Miami early at 3-0 and not looking back. The third set was level, 1-1, when Schuman's clinch on court two ended the match.

Notes

Duke has won six matches in a row.
Aspen Schuman and Liv Hovde are now 8-0 as a double's duo.
Hovde owns a 14-14 record on the year in singles and totaled her third ranked win of the year.
Schuman improved to 16-3 on the season and won her sixth match in a row. She now owns five ranked wins as a Blue Devil.
The Blue Devils carried the first set in singles on courts one, three, and five.
In ACC Championship singles competition, Shavit Kimchi improves to 3-2; Hovde to 1-1; Balus to 2-1.
Kimchi posted her 10th singles win of the season and 48th of her career.
Irina Balus improved to 19-8 overall and 36-19 over her career. She notched her 11th ranked win of the year and 22nd of her career.
This marks the third time this season the Blue Devils have conceded the doubles point but won the match.
Duke advanced to the ACC Championship semifinals for the second consecutive season and the 31st time in school history.
The Blue Devils had won the doubles point in five matches in a row.

Quotes

"We were just all too tight on the start and too timid. We weren't going after our shots like we have been the last five or six matches." — Duke head coach Jamie Ashworth
"We did a good job learning from those matches, did a good job of moving forward, coming in when we had opportunities. We have as much talent. You just have to trust yourself and believe in yourself. And you know when you have a chance to finish the point, go for it. If you miss, you miss. You don't have to chase perfection. This is the wrong sport to be perfect." — Duke head coach Jamie Ashworth
"I played the girl last week and I beat her. I feel like that gave me confidence that I wanted to beat her again. I was losing at the beginning and I was losing, I think 0-1, 40 love, and I think that game, when I came back, just gave me so much confidence." – Duke sophomore Irina Balus
"She's new and she's been adjusting so well. It's really tough moments and she's able to handle them. She's very strong mentally, just as a teammate, it's very inspiring. I'm very proud of her." — Duke sophomore Irina Balus on the play of freshman Aspen Schuman

Up Next

Duke will face No. 1 seeded Virginia in the semifinals Saturday, April 18 at 2 p.m., at the Cary Tennis Park in Cary.

Duke 4, Miami 2
April 17, 2026
Cary Tennis Park * Cary, N.C.

Doubles

Raquel Gonzalez/Dominika Podhajecka (UM) def. Shavit Kimchi/Irina Balus (DU) 7-6 (7-3)
Sebastianna Scilipoti/Sofia Rocchetti (UM) def. #71 Claire An/Eleana Yu (DU) 6-4
Liv Hovde/Aspen Schuman (DU) def. Jaquelyn Ogunwale/Daria Volosova (UM) 6-2

Singles

#14 Irina Balus (DU) def. #42 Raquel Gonzalez (UM) 6-4, 6-0
#48 Aspen Schuman (DU) def. #63 Sofia Rocchetti (UM) 3-6, 6-2, 6-2.
#117 Liv Hovde (DU) #99 def. Jaquelyn Ogunwale (UM) 6-3, 6-4
Sebastianna Scilipoti (UM) def. Claire An (DU) 4-6, 3-6
Shavit Kimchi (DU) def. Daria Volosova (UM) 6-2, 6-2
#124 Eleana Yu (DU) Dominikia Podhajecka (UM) 4-6, 6-3, 1-1 unfinished

Order of Finish: Doubles (3,2,1*), Singles (1,5,3,4,2*)

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