Blue Devils Open Season in Hawai?i

DURHAM, N.C. – The 2014-15 Duke men's tennis team is starting its spring campaign with a trip to paradise. The Blue Devils are in Honolulu, Hawai'i, to take part in two matches this week.

“This is an amazing trip,” head coach Ramsey Smith said. “We've been fortunate enough to make this our third trip. Greg and Jane Hills have provided this trip for us every other year in January. I love that it's in early January because it's a nice team bonding time and kickoff to the spring season.”

The squad departed for Honolulu on Sunday and has spent the last two days practicing at the University of Hawai'i. The Blue Devils will take on the Rainbow Warriors at 3 p.m. ET Wednesday before facing Louisville at 3 p.m. Thursday. Both matches will consist of two rounds of doubles followed by one round of singles.

Louisville, which is in its first year in the Atlantic Coast Conference, features the No. 1 player from the 2014 fall season in Sebastian Stiefelmeyer, who was the top seed for the 2014 USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships in singles. The Cardinals finished the 2013-14 campaign with a 21-7 overall record.

Hawai'i posted an 8-12 overall mark in 2013-14. Senior Nils Schuhmann is the Rainbow Warriors' top returner as he went 8-8 in singles a year ago and was named second team all-Big West in singles and was a first team honoree in doubles.

“We're playing a hidden dual individual tournament so we'll get to play a lot of doubles and singles,” Smith added. “We couldn't ask for a better start to the season than playing in Hawai'i.”

Away from practices, the team already this week has spent an afternoon at Waikiki Beach and visited the Hula Grill and Duke's Restaurant.

“Greg and Jane Hills are our biggest supporters of Duke tennis, both the men's and the women's teams,” Smith explained. “Greg was a very good player at Duke and is involved with a lot of development in Durham now. The entire family is amazing.”

After this week's matches, Duke will visit Kailua, about a 15 mile drive from Waikiki Beach, on Friday and take a half day kayak adventure to Twin Islands.

After returning from Hawai'i, the Blue Devils will open the home portion of the spring season at 6 p.m. ET on Friday, Jan. 16, at against Michigan State.

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Blue Devils Open Season in Hawai?i

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