Duke Drops Quarterfinal Match to Georgia Tech

Friday, April 24

Cary, N.C.

3:00 PM

Duke University

Georgia Tech (Quarterfinals)

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Duke Drops Quarterfinal Match to Georgia Tech

4/24/2015 9:30:00 PM | Women's Tennis

By: Duke Sports Information

CARY, N.C. – The 23rd-ranked Duke women's tennis team was unable to avenge its regular season loss to 27th-ranked Georgia Tech Friday, falling to the Yellow Jackets in the quarterfinal round of the ACC Tournament, 4-3, at Cary Tennis Park in Cary, N.C. The loss marks just the fourth quarterfinal exit for the Blue Devils in the conference tournament. Duke drops to 16-9 on the year with the loss, while Georgia Tech improved to 15-8.

“We've done such a good job with our doubles the last couple of weeks, with those combinations and playing with energy,” head coach Jamie Ashworth said. “We just came out so flat in the doubles. By the time we tried to pick it up, it was way too late. That's really disappointing, because in tournaments like this, you have to get the doubles point and get off the court.”

The Blue Devils were unable to catch a rhythm in doubles, falling on courts one and three to surrender the doubles point.

On court one, Duke's tandem of senior Ester Goldfeld and sophomore Alyssa Smith dropped its contest against Georgia Tech's Kendal Woodard and Paige Hourigan, 3-8. With the score tied at 1-1, Woodard and Hourigan went on a six-game run that put Goldfeld and Smith in a challenging position. Although the Duke pair would win back-to-back games, making the score 3-7, the Blue Devils were unable to get any closer, dropping the final game of the match. With the loss, Goldfeld and Smith fall to 10-11 on the season as a doubles team.

Georgia Tech clinched the doubles point after the tandem of senior Annie Mulholland and sophomore Chalena Scholl fell to Rasheeda McAdoo and Johnnise Renaud, 4-8, on court three. The two pairs were evenly matched at the early stages of the contest, trading games to bring the match to 3-3. McAdoo and Renaud won two consecutive games to take a two-game lead. Mulholland and Scholl came within a game but were unable to bridge the gap, as the Georgia Tech tandem won the final three games of the match. The loss is the first of the season for Mulholland and Scholl, who came into the contest with a perfect 4-0 record.

With the doubles point decided, the match on court two between the Duke duo of junior Beatrice Capra and freshman Samantha Harris and Georgia Tech's Megan Kurey and Alexa Anton-Ohlmeyer remained unfinished with Duke trailing, 4-5.

Singles was a back-and-forth affair, with numerous lead changes as the Blue Devils and the Yellow Jackets exchanged wins over the six courts.

The Yellow Jackets jumped out to a 2-0 lead over the Blue Devils after Smith dropped her contest against Megan Kurey on court six, 4-6, 1-6. Smith stormed out to a 3-1 lead, but Kurey fought back to tie the match at 3-3. Smith and Kurey exchanged games, tying the set at 4-4, before Kurey won two straight games. In the second set, Smith was unable to gain any momentum, falling behind 1-2. Kurey won the final four games to hand Smith her 15th loss of the year.

On court five, Scholl brought Duke within a point of Georgia Tech following a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Natasha Prokhnevska. Scholl fell behind, 0-2, before she won the remaining six games. Similar to the first set, Scholl trailed early, 1-2, before she strung together five straight games to take the set and the match. Scholl's record improved to 2-4 on the year with the victory.

Harris brought the team score even following a come-from-behind, 4-6, 6-1, 6-2, victory over Woodard on court three. Neither competitor was able to gain an advantage over the other in the first set, with Harris and Woodard remaining tied at 2-2, 3-3, and 4-4. Woodard won back-to-back games to close out the first set. Harris responded admirably in the two subsequent sets. In the second set, two breaks and a hold gave Harris a 3-0 lead that Woodard was unable to overcome. Harris would surrender her only game of the set before winning three straight to take the set. In the third set, Harris once again stormed out to a 3-1 lead. Woodard brought the third set to 3-2, however Harris won the remaining three games, securing her 23rd singles victory of the year.

Georgia Tech once again took the lead after redshirt senior Rachel Kahan was unable to defeat her opponent, McAdoo, on court four. Kahan suffered a 1-6, 2-6 setback to McAdoo, Kahan's 14th of the season. Kahan was unable to take the lead in either of her sets, falling behind 0-4 in the first and 2-4 in the second.

The match became knotted at 3-3 with 89th-ranked Capra's 7-5, 6-0 win over 102nd-ranked Renaud. Similar to some of the action on the other singles courts, Capra and Renaud used the first set to gauge one another's talents. Neither Capra nor Renaud could gain a significant lead over the other in the first set, with ties at 2-2, 3-3 and 5-5. Capra was able to put together a two-game win streak that allowed her to take the set. The momentum from the first set carried over into the second, as Capra did not drop a game to Renaud in the final set. Capra earned her 11th win of the season with the victory.

The match was ultimately decided on court two, with the contest between 39th-ranked Goldfeld and 53rd-ranked Hourigan. Goldfeld put in a valiant effort, forcing a third set, but her comeback fell just short as she was upended by Hourigan, 2-6, 6-3, 0-6. Hourigan took a 1-5 lead over Goldfeld in the first set that the Brooklyn, N.Y., native was unable to overcome. In the second set, Goldfeld trailed 1-3, but she won five straight games to pull even and force the match to a third set. Goldfeld tried to carry over the momentum from her second-set success, but could not win a game in the deciding set. With the loss, Goldfeld falls to 25-13 on the year.

“It's a much flatter match than we've played and it's not how we've been playing,” Ashworth said. “It's not what our team has been about the last couple of weeks of the season. It's a little surprising and disappointing to see, but hopefully we learn from it and understand what we need to do going into the NCAA Tournament.”

Duke will learn its 2015 NCAA Tennis Championships competition Tuesday at 5 p.m. (ET). NCAA play begins May 8-10 with the first and second rounds. Latter rounds of the national tournament will be held in Waco, Texas, May 14-19.

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