Duke Earns 5-2 Win Over Wake Forest on Senior Day

Friday, April 17

Durham, N.C.

3:00 PM

Duke University

Wake Forest

Duke Earns 5-2 Win Over Wake Forest on Senior Day

4/17/2015 7:48:00 PM | Women's Tennis

By: Duke Sports Information

DURHAM, N.C. – The Duke women's tennis team closed out its regular season home slate Friday with a 5-2 victory over Wake Forest in Ambler Tennis Stadium. The win, which came on Duke's senior day, marked the team's 10th conference victory of the season. The Blue Devils (15-8, 10-3) have won double-digit ACC matches for the second straight season after achieving the same feat during the 2010-11 and 2011-12 seasons.

“We talked about getting out, taking care of what we needed to and not letting Wake Forest hang around,” head coach Jamie Ashworth said. “If we could do that, we could get off the courts quickly. Unfortunately, we weren't able to do that on every court, especially with another match on Sunday and the tournament next week.”

For the fourth straight match, the Blue Devils entered singles with a 1-0 lead over their opponent after clinching the doubles point.

The 51st-ranked tandem of junior Beatrice Capra and freshman Samantha Harris won its third consecutive match after defeating the Wake Forest team of Samantha Asch and Andrea Retolaza, 8-2. With the score knotted at two games apiece, Capra and Harris went on a six-game run to lead Duke off the doubles courts. The duo of Capra and Harris moved to 8-3 overall and 3-0 in conference play with the win.

Duke secured the doubles point on court three as the pair of sophomore Chalena Scholl and senior Annie Mulholland downed the Wake Forest tandem of Courtney Meredith and Luisa Fernandez, 8-2. Scholl and Mulholland never trailed in the match. With the score sitting tied at 1-1, Scholl and Mulholland won four straight games. Meredith and Fernandez would win their second game of the match before the Duke pair would close out by winning the final three games. Scholl and Mulholland are undefeated as a pair this season, winning all three of the matches they've entered.

With the doubles point clinched, the match on court one between Duke's team of senior Ester Goldfeld and sophomore Alyssa Smith and Wake Forest's 76th-ranked pair of Kimmy Guerin and Kasey Gardiner remained unfinished, with Duke trailing, 4-7.

Duke showed no signs of letting up on the singles courts, winning the first set at five of the six positions to take a lead that would prove insurmountable for the Demon Deacons.

Duke went up 2-0 over Wake Forest after 37th-ranked Goldfeld upended Asch on court two, 6-2, 6-2. A key hold for Goldfeld with the first set tied at 2-2 propelled her on a four-game streak that allowed her to take the set. The second set played out identically to the first. With the set tied at 2-2, Goldfeld won four consecutive games to secure the victory. Goldfeld owns a team-best 25 wins this season and improves to 9-4 when facing ACC opposition.

Harris, the 84th-ranked singles player in the nation, brought Duke within a point of the win after defeating Fernandez on court three, 6-0, 6-4. After not dropping a game in the first set, Harris and Fernandez sat tied at 2-2 in the second. Harris settled in and put together a string of three straight games to lead 5-2. The Melbourne, Australia, native surrendered two additional games, bringing Fernandez within a game of a second-set tie, but Harris was able to serve out for the match. Friday's victory also marked the ninth ACC win of the season for Harris, tying her for sixth on Duke's freshman list with Beatrice Capra and Alyssa Smith.

On court one, Capra would clinch the win for Duke with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over 123rd-ranked Guerin. Capra trailed early in the first set, having to battle back from a 2-3 deficit. The Ellicott City, Md., native would win three straight games to take a 5-3 advantage. Capra traded games with Guerin, allowing Capra to clinch the set. Capra was dominant in the second set, storming out to a 4-1 lead and allowing Guerin just one additional game before closing the set and the match. Capra improved to 9-8 overall with the win.

Although the match was clinched, contests on courts four, five and six were played to conclusion. Redshirt senior Rachel Kahan, the 121st-ranked singles player, upended Gardiner, 6-4, 6-4, on court four to earn her 18th win of the season. Kahan is now just five victories shy of reaching the 100-win plateau for her career.

“It was difficult playing at home [possibly for the last time], especially with the two other seniors, but we wanted to just go out on a good note,” Kahan said. “It's a great feeling [to win on senior day]. Hopefully we can continue on through the ACC Tournament and NCAAs with the same mentality and the same fight, while playing together as a team.”

Smith, facing Meredith on court six, took an early lead but was unable to hold on as she suffered a 6-2, 1-6, 3-6 setback. The loss drops Smith to 11-14 on the season and 2-2 in conference matches.

The match came to a close following the conclusion of the contest on court five, with Mulholland falling to Karen Forman, 6-7 (6-8), 6-7 (5-7). Mulholland fought back from a two-game deficit in the first set and a one-game deficit in the second, but unfortunately she was unable to close out either tiebreak. Mulholland falls to 18-11 on the year with the loss.

Duke concludes regular season play Sunday, traveling to South Bend, Ind., for a noon contest against 33rd-ranked Notre Dame. The match marks the team's third competition in five days.

“From a coaching standpoint, you wish you had more time [between matches]," Ashworth said. "If you ask the team, I think they'd rather play in a match than practice, because you get into a match mode. I think it's more fun to play matches than to practice. I think it's more on us, preparation-wise, to get in what we can, but from a player's standpoint, they'd love to play as many matches as they can.”

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