Duke Upended by No. 7 Alabama

Sunday, February 8

Charlottesville, Va.

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Day Three at National Team Indoors

Duke Upended by No. 7 Alabama

2/8/2015 5:08:00 PM | Women's Tennis

By: Duke Sports Information

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- The Duke women's tennis team concluded consolation play at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) National Women's Team Indoor Championship Sunday, falling to seventh-ranked Alabama, 4-1, in Charlottesville, Va. With the loss, Duke drops to 4-3 this season. The defeat marks the first time since the 2012-13 campaign the Blue Devils lost three straight matches.

The Blue Devils trailed early against the Crimson Tide after Duke was unable to earn the doubles point. The contest on court two between Duke's pair of redshirt senior Rachel Kahan and junior Beatrice Capra and Alabama's duo of Danielle Spielmann and Emily Zabor was the first to conclude, with the Blue Devil tandem suffering its second loss of the season. Kahan and Capra fell behind early in the match and ultimately dropped the contest by a score of 1-6.

The team of senior Annie Mulholland and freshman Samantha Harris defeated its opponent on court three in Alabama's Luicelena Perez and Natalia Maynetto, 7-5, to remain undefeated in dual match play this season. Mulholland and Harris now own a 4-0 dual match ledger, and an overall mark of 7-1. The Blue Devil tandem is also in the midst of a five-match win streak.

With the victory on court three, the doubles point would be decided at the No. 1 position. Senior Ester Goldfeld and sophomore Alyssa Smith put in a valiant effort, but suffered a 6-7 (2-7) setback against the 18th-ranked pair in the country, Erin Routliffe and Maya Jansen. With the score at 6-5, Goldfeld and Smith had an opportunity to close out the match, but Routliffe and Jansen won the penultimate game to force a tiebreak. In the tiebreak, the two teams traded points to sit tied at 2-2. The Alabama duo caught its rhythm and won five straight points to clinch the match and doubles for the Crimson Tide.

In singles, Alabama took an early 3-0 lead over the Blue Devils after earning victories on courts three and four. At the No. 3 position, Kahan fell to 59th-ranked Jansen, 1-6, 2-6, moving the Unionville, Conn., native to 10-9 on the year.

On court four, Smith dropped her 10th contest of the year after a 2-6, 1-6 loss to Zabor. Smith's dual match record this season is 2-3, while her overall ledger is 8-10.

Duke pulled within two points of the Crimson Tide in the team score after 87th-ranked Goldfeld defeated No. 25 Routliffe, 6-0, 7-6 (7-4). Following a dominant first set by Goldfeld, Routliffe took an early 1-4 lead in the second set. The Brooklyn, N.Y., native battled back, however, winning three straight games to tie the set at 4-4. The two traded games, tying the set at 6-6 and forcing a second-set tiebreak. Goldfeld proved victorious in the tiebreak to earn her fifth dual match win of the season and her second over a nationally ranked opponent. Goldfeld sits just six wins shy of reaching the 100-win mark for her career.

The match would ultimately be decided on court five, with freshman Rebecca Smaller dropping her contest against Perez, 5-7, 3-6. For the third straight match, Smaller found herself in a tight competition with her opponent. Smaller led, 5-3, in the first set before Perez won four straight games. In the second set, Smaller once again took an early lead, seeing a 3-2 advantage, but the London native surrendered four straight games. Smaller moved to 1-1 in dual matches this season with the loss, and 9-7 overall.

The match on court two between 55th-ranked Harris and 56th-ranked Spielmann remained unfinished at 6-2, 4-6, 5-4, while the match on court six between Mulholland and Maynetto was also abandoned at 6-7 (3-7), 1-2.

The Blue Devils return to competition on Feb. 20, traveling to Gainesville, Fla., to face No. 2 Florida.

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