No. 7 Blue Devils Win Second Straight At Home

Wednesday, March 1

Durham, N.C.

5 p.m.

Duke University

Wake Forest

No. 7 Blue Devils Win Second Straight At Home

3/1/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis

By: Duke Sports Information

DURHAM, N.C. -- The No. 7 Duke women's tennis team topped its first Atlantic Coast Conference opponent of the 2006 season, downing No. 20 Wake Forest, 5-2, in its first outdoor match of the year Wednesday. In similar fashion to Sunday's 5-2 victory over Northwestern, junior Kristin Cargill and senior Jackie Carleton clinched the doubles point for Duke, and Carleton clinched the overall win with the third Duke singles victory at the Blue Devils' Ambler Tennis Stadium.

Duke maintained its doubles point streak, claiming the point for the eighth straight match in as many attempts. Sixth-ranked Daniela Bercek and Jessi Robinson rebounded from suffering their first doubles loss of the season Sunday by taking a decisive victory on court one over Wake Forest's Alex Hirsch and Ana Jerman, 8-3. Bercek and Robinson, now 5-1 in dual matches, leapt out to a 5-1 lead over the Deacon duo before Wake responded with the next point. The two pairs split the next two points to make the score 6-3, but the Blue Devil combination was able to finish off its opponent in the next two games.

One court over, Cargill and Carleton put up a quick trio of points on Ashlee Davis and Christian Tara, but the Deacons battled back within one. The two teams traded points until the score stood at 7-5, and then Cargill and Carleton claimed the next game to win, 8-5, clinching the doubles point for the Blue Devils for the fourth time in the last five matches.

No. 45 Melissa Mang and Jennifer Zika dropped their first match of the season to the tandem of Sierra Poske and Christine Simpson at No. 3, 8-2, just minutes after Cargill and Carleton clinched the Duke point.

Mang came back strong in singles, however, providing Duke with the first win for the second straight match. She became the first Blue Devil this season to not give up any singles points, winning the match on court five, 6-0, 6-0.

Wake Forest answered with a dominant win at No. 4, as Christian Tara topped Zika, 6-1, 6-1, and then knotted the overall score at 2-2 when Ana Jerman posted a 6-3, 6-0, win over Tara Iyer on the third court.

Robinson put the advantage back in Duke's favor, easily taking her first set over Sierra Poske, 6-3. Robinson went down 1-2 early in the second set but then notched five straight points to take the set, 6-2, making the score of the match 3-2.

Two intense matches ensued on the top two courts, as No. 2 Bercek and No. 34 Carleton took on Wake Forest's two ranked players. Carleton registered the first win on court two, beating No. 49 Davis to clinch the match for Duke for the second straight contest. Carleton, who improves to 6-1 this season at the No. 2 spot, took a 6-3 victory in the first set and went up 4-2 in the second. Davis staked a comeback, winning the next point to make it 4-3 and then splitting the next two for a 5-4 mark. Carleton finally took the final point to win the set, 6-4, and clinch Duke's win at 4-2.

Bercek's battle at No. 1 lasted even longer, finishing a full 50 minutes after Robinson's ended on court six -- the last to finish before Carleton. No. 37 Alex Hirsch assumed the early lead in the first set with a 2-1 advantage, but Bercek responded by winning two straight games to make it 3-2. Hirsch knotted the score and then took over the lead again with the next point, but Bercek fought back with two straight victories to stake her claim over the first set, 6-4. Hirsch answered by posting an intimidating 4-1 lead in the second set, but Bercek refused to give up, winning four consecutive points to go up 5-4. After trading the next two, Bercek led 6-5, and a hit that fell just inside the back line sealed her win at 7-5, keeping her undefeated in dual singles matches this year.

Duke returns to the courts Thursday with another 5 p.m. contest against ACC rival N.C. State at the Ambler Tennis Stadium.

Results
Doubles
1. #6 Daniela Bercek/Jessi Robinson (D) def. Alex Hirsch/Ana Jerman (W), 8-3
2. Kristin Cargill/Jackie Carleton (D) def. Ashlee Davis/Christian Tara (W), 8-5
3. Sierra Poske/Christine Simpson (W) def. Melissa Mang/Jennifer Zika (D), 8-2
Order; 1,2*,3

Singles
1. #2 Daniela Bercek (D) def. #37 Alex Hirsch, 6-4, 7-5
2. #34 Jackie Carleton (D) def. #49 Ashlee Davis, 6-3, 6-4
3. Ana Jerman (W) def. #57 Tara Iyer (D), 6-3, 6-0
4. Christian Tara (W) def. Jennifer Zika (D), 6-1, 6-1
5. Melissa Mang (D) def. Jenna Loeb (W), 6-0, 6-0
6. Jessi Robinson (D) def. Sierra Poske (W), 6-3, 6-2
Order: 5,4,3,6,2*,1