Duke Moves on to NCAA Round of 16 for Second Straight Season With 4-2 Victory

Sunday, May 14

Durham, N.C.

2 p.m.

Duke University

Boise State - Second Round

Kiril Dimitrov Named ACC Men?s Tennis Performer of the Week

Duke Moves on to NCAA Round of 16 for Second Straight Season With 4-2 Victory

5/14/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis

By: Duke Sports Information

Durham, N.C. - Fourth-seeded Duke claimed a 4-2 victory over No. 26 Boise State on Sunday in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, rallying after losing the doubles point to win four of the first five singles matches. The Blue Devils advance to the NCAA Round of 16 for the second straight season and 11th time in school history.

The Blue Devils entered singles competition trailing 1-0 in the match after Boise State took the doubles point. Duke won the first set in four of the six singles matches but lost two tiebreakers at the No. 5 and No. 6 position. No. 5 Ludovic Walter took care of business at the top spot, winning handily 6-2, 6-0 against No. 45 Luke Shields. The win was the 30th of the season for Walter and his 20th victory in dual matches. It is the third time in his four seasons that he has won 30 or more singles matches. He is now 30-11 overall, 20-6 in dual matches and 126-41 for his career. He earned his 20th victory over a ranked opponent this season.

Joey Atas and Peter Rodrigues also won in straight sets to give the Blue Devils a 3-1 lead in the match. Atas was the first Duke player to finish, tying the match at 1-1. He defeated Eric Roberson in the No. 4 match 6-3, 7-6 (4). Atas is now 18-13 on the year and earned his 60th career victory. Rodrigues edged Clancy Shields in a first-set tiebreaker, 7-6 (5), and then closed out the win by the score of 6-1 in the second set. Rodrigues improved to 29-10 on the year, 23-4 in dual matches and 81-29 in his career.

The Broncos made things interesting when No. 120 Thomas Schoeck upset No. 46 Jonathan Stokke at No. 2. Schoeck bounced back after losing the first set 4-6, to take the final two sets 6-3, 6-3. After losing the first-set tiebreakers in the bottom two matches, Duke's Kiril Dimitrov and Stephen Amrtiraj answered by winning the second set. Dimitrov won his second set, 6-3, against Piotr Dilaj and then came away with a 6-4 win in the final set to clinch the match for Duke. Dimitrov is now 17-9 on the season. Amritraj won 6-4 in the second set and was even with Brent Werbeck at 4-4 in the final set when the match ended.

Duke started off strong in doubles with an 8-4 victory at the No. 3 slot. Ned Samuelson and Walter improved to 15-8 on the season with a win over Dilaj and Roberson. However, Boise State came back to win the battle at the top spot. No. 22 L. Shields and Schoeck downed No. 17 Atas and Stokke, 8-3, to even the score. C. Shields and Robertson clinched the doubles point for the Broncos with an 8-5 win over Amritraj and Rodrigues at the second spot.

The Blue Devils will move on to face No. 13 Stanford in the round of 16. Stanford (17-3) is the host for the remainder of the team championships and moved on after sweeping the second round match against California, 4-0. The match between Duke and the Cardinals will take place on Saturday, May 20 at 3 p.m. The tournament is taking place at the Taube Tennis Center in Stanford, Calif.

May 14, 2006 - Durham, N.C. (2 p.m.)
Ambler Tennis Stadium

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No. 5 Duke 4

vs.

No. 26 Boise State 2

Singles
1.		1	2	3
DU	#5 Ludovic Walter	6	6	-
BSU	#45 Luke Shields	2	0	-
2.		1	2	3
DU	#46 Jonathan Stokke	6	3	3
BSU	#120 Thomas Schoeck	4	6	6
3.		1	2	3
DU	#67 Peter Rodrigues	7 (7)	6	-
BSU	Clancy Shields	6 (5)	1	-
4.		1	2	3
DU	Joey Atas	6	7 (7)	-
BSU	Eric Roberson	3	6 (4)	-
5.		1	2	3
DU	Kiril Dimitrov	6 (4)	6	6
BSU	Piotr Dilaj	7 (7)	3	4
6.		1	2	3
DU	Stephen Amritraj	6 (4)	6	4
BSU	Brent Werbeck	7 (7)	4	4

Doubles
1.		1
DU	#17 Atas & Stokke	3
BSU	#22 L. Shields & Schoeck	8
2.		1
DU	Amritraj & Rodrigues	5
BSU	C. Shields & Robertson	8
3.		1
DU	Samuelson & Walter	8
BSU	Dilaj & Roberson	4