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2015 Women's Tennis Season Preview
1/5/2015 10:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
With the start of the 2015 dual-match season just around the corner, there are a number of storylines to keep an eye on as this year's campaign unfolds.
DUKE LOOKS TO REPLICATE SUCCESS OF 2014 SEASON
The Duke women's tennis team enters the 2014-15 season on the heels of a successful 2013-14 campaign that included a quarterfinal appearance at the 2014 NCAA Tournament, an Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Indoor National Championship and a second-place finish in the ACC tournament.
The Blue Devils concluded the season with an overall mark of 27-5, posting 21 wins against nationally ranked opponents. Duke's 2014 season also included a run of 13 consecutive wins that ranged from Feb. 23 until April 11. During that stretch, Duke was defeating opponents by a margin of 77-12, including shutouts against four separate opponents.
Duke also saw success individually, as senior Ester Goldfeld reached the semifinal round of the NCAA Singles Championship and junior Beatrice Capra advanced to the quarterfinal round of the tournament. Capra also competed in the NCAA Doubles Championship alongside recent graduate Hanna Mar. The duo played into the semifinal round of the tournament before falling in the penultimate match. The trio of Capra, Goldfeld and Mar garnered All-America honors for their performances.
DUKE WINS ITA INDOOR NATIONAL TITLE
For the second time in school history, and the first time since 2003, Duke earned the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) National Team Indoor Championship title. The event, held in Charlottesville, Va., pitted then 10th-ranked Duke against fifth-ranked UCLA in the final of the competition. With the team trailing UCLA 3-0, Duke battled back by winning two third-set tiebreaks. For the second time in three matches, it came down to recent graduate Hanna Mar, who delivered with a 7-3 tiebreaker win in the second set and a 10-3 tiebreaker victory in the third set after dropping the first set, 6-3. For her efforts, Mar earned tournament MVP honors.
BLUE DEVILS IN ITA PRESEASON POLL
The Blue Devils once again open the season well represented in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's (ITA) preseason singles rankings, as four members of the team appear in the organization's preseason poll to start the 2015 season. For the second consecutive year, junior Beatrice Capra headlines the Blue Devils, ranking fourth in the nation. In addition to Capra, senior Ester Goldfeld also appears among the top 15 on the charts, ranking 12th overall. Sophomores Chalena Scholl and Alyssa Smith round out the Duke contingent, ranking tied for 99th and 109th, respectively.
Duke concluded the 2014 dual-match season ranked second overall by the ITA.
KAHAN STRONG IN RETURN TO LINEUP
After surgery forced redshirt senior Rachel Kahan to miss all of last season, the Unionville, Conn., native returned to Duke's lineup in impressive fashion, compiling a 20-6 singles record during the 2014 season and a 9-3 mark against conference opponents. Kahan enters this season tied third on Duke's all-time career ACC singles wins list with 28.
Kahan has been instrumental in the Blue Devils' success in NCAA play in recent years, owning a perfect 11-0 record in singles in the NCAA Tournament. Most recently, Kahan helped guide Duke to the quarterfinal round of this year's tournament, defeating East Tennessee State's Sofia Espana, 6-0, 6-0, and No. 30 South Carolina's Caroline Dailey, 6-1, 6-0, in the first two rounds before downing No. 14 Clemson's Jessy Rompies, 6-4, 6-3. In all three matches, Kahan led the Blue Devils off the courts in singles play.
HOME SWEET HOME
The Blue Devils carry a 14-match home win streak into the 2015 season, after remaining perfect in Durham the previous year. Duke reached the 14-win barrier for the second time in four years, after seeing 14 wins at home during the 2012 season.
Duke faced stout competition at home in 2014, including 11 matches against ranked opponents. While at home, the Blue Devils outscored their opponents, 70-8, with shutouts in seven of the team's 14 home matches.
The Blue Devils also hosted the first and second rounds of the NCAA Tournament, earning 4-0 victories over East Tennessee State University and No. 30 South Carolina, advancing Duke to the round of 16 in Athens, Ga.
ASHWORTH RECOGNIZED
Head Coach Jamie Ashworth's efforts as head coach of the Duke women's tennis team were recognized in 2014, as Ashworth received the WIlson/ITA National Women's Coach of the Year award, an honor voted on by his peers. In addition to the national coach of the year accolade, Ashworth was also named the Wilson/ITA Carolina Region Coach of the Year.
In addition to the team's success on the court, the Blue Devils proved equally productive off the playing surface, showcasing a 3.56 grade point average during the 2013-14 academic year. The student-athletes under Ashworth's guidance also participated in numerous community service projects throughout the year.
DUKE ADVANCES IN NCAA TOURNAMENT
For the 17th time in school history, Duke advanced to the quarterfinal round of the NCAA Tournament. The Blue Devils opened the tournament by defeating East Tennessee State, 4-0, in the first round of the contest. Duke returned to the courts and upended No. 30 South Carolina, 4-0, moving the team to the round of 16 in Athens, Ga. The team reached the quarterfinals of the event by bypassing No. 14 Clemson, 4-1, before suffering a 4-2 defeat of eventual champion and third-ranked UCLA.
Duke's participation in the 2014 NCAA Tournament marked the team's 25th consecutive appearance at the event, as well as the 26th time in 28 years the Blue Devils reached the national competition. After amassing a record of 3-1 in last season's national championship tournament, the Blue Devils moved to 63-25 all-time.
Under Ashworth's direction, the Duke women's tennis team has reached the NCAA Tournament in all 18 seasons of his tenure, while collecting an overall record of 47-16 during that span.
STACKED 2015 SLATE
Duke once again faces stout competition in 2015, with 19 of the team's 21 opponents ranked by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) in the final poll of the 2014 season. Duke, which concluded 2014 ranked No. 2, headlines the ACC, which boasts six teams among the nation's top 20, including No. 3 North Carolina, No. 7 Virginia, No. 12 Miami, No. 13 Clemson, No. 18 Georgia Tech and No. 19 Notre Dame.
In addition to ACC competition, the Blue Devils are also scheduled to face opponents from seven other conferences, including the Colonial Athletic Conference (William & Mary), the American Athletic Conference (No. 41 Memphis), the Southern Conference (No. 58 Furman), the Big Ten (No. 15 Northwestern), the SEC (No. 5 Florida), the Pac-12 (No. 8 Stanford) and the Mountain West Conference (UNLV). In 2014, Duke posted a near-perfect non-conference record of 10-1, with the only non-conference loss of the season coming in the quarterfinal round of the NCAA Tournament in a 4-2 setback to eventual national champion UCLA.
DUKE'S DOUBLES RANKED
Duke's doubles pairs fared well in the 2013-14 season, amassing an overall record of 77-29 (.726), including a 24-6 ledger in conference contests.
The duo of senior Ester Goldfeld and sophomore Alyssa Smith led the Blue Devils in conference doubles matches, amassing a record of 6-1 in the 2013-14 season. The tandem played primarily at the No. 2 position last season, earning a record of 11-6 against conference opponents. In addition to teaming with Goldfeld, Smith took the courts alongside three other teammates, accumulating 25 total doubles wins.
YOUNG TALENT
The Blue Devils welcome three freshman to the team for the 2015 season. The trio of Christina Makarova, Rebecca Smaller and Samantha Harris make up the ninth-ranked recruiting class, according to tennisrecruiting.net.
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