Women's Tennis Blanks Old Dominion In Season Opener

Friday, January 23

Durham, N.C.

6:00 p.m.

Duke University

Old Dominion

Duke Cruises To ACC Tournament Semifinal

Women's Tennis Blanks Old Dominion In Season Opener

1/23/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis

By: Duke Sports Information

DURHAM, N.C.?The Duke University women's tennis team opened its season with a bang, sweeping Old Dominion 7-0 in the dual match season opener tonight at the Sheffield Indoor Tennis Center. The Blue Devils did not drop a set in the home win.

Duke moves to 1-0 on the season, while Old Dominion drops to 2-2 overall. The Blue Devils remain unbeaten against the Monarchs all-time, sporting a 6-0 record against the Norfolk, Va. school.

“We were excited to play,” head coach Jamie Ashworth said. “We talked recently about the legacy of Duke tennis and what this team is going to be remembered for. Our goal today was to start defining what this team is going to be and what this team is going to be remembered for. I know they were all excited to play. This is kind of what we play for, the fall season is great, but this is a lot more fun and so I think everyone was excited to play outside competition and get our season going.”

Racing out to a 1-0 lead with three doubles victories, Duke dropped just five games across the three matches.

Sophomore duo Reka Zsilinszka and Ellah Nze opened the evening with a convincing 8-1 victory in the No. 2 doubles slot. The tandem broke Marija Citic and Irina Dementyeva in the opening game and cruised to the victory.

Minutes later senior Jessi Robinson and freshman Mallory Cecil wrapped up the doubles point, beating Joanna Dobrowolska and Margarita Spicin 8-0. After going up a break in a marathon opening game, Robinson and Cecil never looked back as they posted a victory in their debut.

“We haven't had a lot of time to work on things with the two of them as a doubles team and hopefully that is something that we can build on,” Ashworth said. “I think it was great for Mallory [Cecil] to play doubles first in her first college match and Jess [Robinson] did a great job being a leader on the court. Jess was definitely excited to have someone like Mallory as her doubles partner.”

Facing off against the unbeaten and the 40th-ranked tandem of Nadine Fahoum and Charleen Haarhoff, senior Melissa Mang and junior Amanda Granson captured a break in the fifth game to go up 3-2. Mang and Granson held their serve and broke again in the ninth game for the 6-3 advantage. Fahoum and Haarhoff made it a 7-4 contest, but the 20th-ranked Blue Devil pair served their way to the 8-4 win.

Robinson kicked off the singles matches, breezing to a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Marija Citic at sixth singles. The Rehoboth Beach, Del. native posted her sixth win overall and moved to 1-0 in dual match action. Duke's Zsilinszka finished minutes later in the No. 4 spot as she dispatched Dobrowolska 6-1, 6-0 for the season-opening win and put the Blue Devils in front 3-0.

Rookie Cecil closed out a spectacular collegiate debut at second singles to make it a 4-0 game in Duke's favor. Cecil battled her way to a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Haarhoff who was ranked 23rd in the East Region coming into the match.

In the top singles spot, Nze and Fahoum duked it out. Nze raced to a 1-0 lead in the match with a 6-1 victory in the opening set. It was all Fahoum early on in the second set as she broke Nze's serve early to take a 4-1 lead. Nze rallied back to tie the set at 4-4 and broke Fahoum's serve in the ninth game to set herself up to serve out the match. Looking to capture the victory, Nze served her way to the 40-15 victory for the 6-1, 6-4 win over Fahoum.

Garnering Duke's sixth point on the evening was Mang with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Dementyeva. Mang broke open the match early and never looked back to secure her ninth victory

Closing out the match at third singles was Granson as she rallied her way to a 7-5, 6-4 victory over Spicin. Granson trailed Spicin 4-2 early in the first set and battled back to tie it at 4-4. After both held serve over the next three games, Granson led 6-5 with Spicin serving to stay in the set. Granson completed her comeback with a final break to win the opening set 7-5. She finished the match in thrilling fashion, using a break midway through the set to win 6-4.

“I think for their own confidence it was important [to not drop a set],” Ashworth said. “They know that they're a better team than Old Dominion. Old Dominion is good and they just played Virginia tough. I think just for their own confidence it was important for them to get off to a good start in doubles and feed off that in singles. It was good to see that when Amanda [Granson] and Ellah [Nze] got down they were able to their way fight back. I think it was good for their confidence knowing that they can do that.”

The Blue Devils host a first round of the ITA National Team Indoor Championships next weekend, Jan. 31-Feb. 1. VCU, Ohio State, and South Carolina come to Durham for the two-day event.

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