Duke Takes Top-15 Matchup with Miami, 4-3

Sunday, February 28

Durham, N.C.

12:00 PM

Duke University

Miami

Duke Takes Top-15 Matchup with Miami, 4-3

2/28/2016 4:20:00 PM | Women's Tennis

By: Duke Sports Information

DURHAM, N.C. – In a battle of two of the ACC's best, the No. 9 Duke women's tennis team slipped past No. 13 Miami 4-3 on Sunday afternoon inside Ambler Tennis Stadium. The Blue Devils, playing their first outdoor match of the campaign, took a 3-1 lead only to have the Hurricanes take two quick decisions and knot the contest at 3-3. A 6-4, 6-4 victory on court six by Duke's Christina Makarova allowed Duke to escape with the victory.

“I am so proud of our mental toughness,” head coach Jamie Ashworth said. “We didn't let playing outside be a determining factor in singles or doubles. It's different with wind, sun, whatever. We had to play. I thought mentally it was the best match we had played all year, by far. Physically it wasn't. There were places we didn't play great. But I thought we were able to be so strong mentally that we were able to carry through the match.”

With Sunday's victory, the Blue Devils extend their winning streak to five and improve to 9-1 overall, 6-0 in home matches and 2-0 in league action.

Duke took the early lead with a hard-fought doubles point, winning on courts one and three. The Blue Devils tallied the first victory on court one, where No. 17 Beatrice Capra and Ellyse Hamlin earned an impressive 6-2 upset of No. 11 Stephanie Wagner and Wendy Zhang. With a 1-1 tie, Duke broke and held to go up 3-1. Miami got it within a game at 3-2, but the Blue Devils tallied three straight wins to end the match. Capra and Hamlin improved to 13-6 overall and 4-3 in dual matches. The win also lifted the duo's record to 2-1 versus ranked foes.

The Blue Devils capped the point with a 6-3 victory on court three by Chalena Scholl and Alyssa Smith against Clementina Riobueno and Silvia Fuentes. Duke jumped out to a 2-0 lead before Miami answered with three straight wins to go ahead 3-2. The Blue Devils mounted a big rally with four consecutive victories to end the match. Scholl and Smith upped their overall record to 9-2 and are 7-1 in dual matches, all in the No. 3 position.

The third doubles match was halted with Miami's Sinead Lohan and Clara Tanielian leading Duke's Kaitlyn McCarthy and Samantha Harris, 5-4, on court two.

“Everybody knows how important that first point is,” Harris said. “It was great to be able to get ahead at the beginning. Everybody played pretty well in doubles. We were all fired up from that and wanted to continue with the momentum going to singles.”

In singles, the Blue Devils quickly made it a 2-0 lead as Scholl blitzed Riobueno 6-2, 6-0 on court three. Scholl turned a 1-1 tie in the opening set into a 4-1 lead, dropped one game and won the final eight of the match. Scholl improves to 12-6 overall and an impressive 7-1 in dual matches.

“We did a good job with Chalena after the doubles, getting a really quick singles point to make it 2-0,” Ashworth said. “That's always something that we talk about and is really important.”

Miami got a point back to make it a 2-1 deficit as No. 8 Wagner defeated No. 26 Capra 6-1, 6-3 on court one. Capra trailed 2-1 in the opening set before Wagner ran off six straight wins to take the first set and open up a 2-0 lead in the second set. Wagner upped the advantage to 5-1 in the second set before Capra took consecutive games to make it 5-3. Wagner held on her serve to end the match. Capra dips to 7-4 overall and 3-3 in dual matches.

Duke regained its two-point advantage on court four, where Harris topped No. 73 Zhang 6-3, 6-4. Harris took a 2-1 lead in the opening set with a break and never looked back. In the second set, Harris extended a 3-2 advantage to a 5-2 lead before Zhang clawed back to trail 5-4. With the deciding game tied at 40-40, Zhang sent a return wide for Harris to secure the match. Harris is now 9-4 overall, including 2-0 against ranked foes, and 6-3 in dual matches. Harris has posted a 5-1 mark on court four.

“It got a little bit tight there towards the end, unfortunately,” Harris said. “I was trying to take one point at a time, make sure I was getting good clearance over the net and make some balls. I think I ended up doing that. It was good to get through that match.”

“She has been playing really well and with a lot of confidence,” Ashworth added. “She's playing a little bit freer and with a lot more confidence with her movement.”

Miami again cut into the Duke lead, making the deficit 3-2 as Fuentes came back to defeat No. 59 Hamlin 3-6, 6-0, 6-1 on court five. In the opening set, Hamlin fell behind 2-0 but took four straight games to go up 4-2. Fuentes got a game back, but Hamlin took the last two for the set. From there, however, momentum stayed on Fuentes' side as she won 12 of the final 13 games to take the match. Hamlin dips to 8-4 overall and 2-2 in dual matches.

The Hurricanes then evened the match on court two as No. 7 Lohan defeated No. 28 McCarthy 7-6 (4), 6-3. The first set featured an impressive comeback by McCarthy, who trailed 5-2. From there, McCarthy won three consecutive games to even the set at 5-5. With the two then tied at 6-6, the match went to the tiebreaker. Once there, McCarthy fell behind 2-0 but evened it at 3-3. Lohan then went on a three-point run to take control at 6-3 before closing out the tiebreaker. In the second set, Lohan took a 2-0 lead and held 3-2, 4-2 and 5-3 advantages before holding on her final game for the win. McCarthy slips to 20-5 and 7-3 in dual action.

“We had four of the best 25 players in the country playing each other today,” Ashworth said. “Wagner has been playing really well. Lohan is the same thing. We had opportunities. But when you have opportunities against people who are that good, you have to take advantage of the first opportunity to you get. I expect them both to learn from this and move on.”

The Blue Devils clinched the match on court six, where Makarova used a pair of late breaks to down Tanielian 6-4, 6-4. The first set was tied at points one through four before Makarova held and broke to end the set. The second set featured another tie on points one through four with Makarova holding and breaking to end the set. Makarova is now 4-1 overall and 3-0 in dual matches, all at No. 6.

“Christina is just a nightmare to play,” Ashworth said. “She hits every ball back, especially outside where it's a little bit slower and she can run down balls. She's going to make you play. You have to hit a winner to beat her. When Christina is moving, playing with determination, running down balls and being smart with her decision making, she's going to be tough to beat.”

Duke ends its four-match home stand at 3 p.m. Friday against Syracuse.

#9 Duke 4, #13 Miami 3
Feb. 28, 2016 at Durham, N.C. (Ambler Tennis Stadium)

Doubles competition
1. #17 Beatrice Capra/Ellyse Hamlin (DU) def. #11 Stephanie Wagner/Wendy Zhang (UM) 6-2
2. Kaitlyn McCarthy/Samantha Harris (DU) vs. Sinead Lohan/Clara Tanielian (UM) 4-5, unfinished
3. Chalena Scholl/Alyssa Smith (DU) def. Clementina Riobueno/Silvia Fuentes (UM) 6-3

Singles competition
1. #8 Stephanie Wagner (UM) def. #26 Beatrice Capra (DU) 6-1, 6-3
2. #7 Sinead Lohan (UM) def. #28 Kaitlyn McCarthy (DU) 7-6 (7-4), 6-3
3. Chalena Scholl (DU) def. Clementina Riobueno (UM) 6-2, 6-0
4. Samantha Harris (DU) def. #73 Wendy Zhang (UM) 6-3, 6-4
5. Silvia Fuentes (UM) def. #59 Ellyse Hamlin (DU) 3-6, 6-0, 6-1
6. Christina Makarova (DU) def. Clara Tanielian (UM) 6-4, 6-4

Match Notes:
Miami 4-4 (1-2); National ranking #13
Duke 9-1 (2-0); National ranking #9
Order of finish: Doubles (1,3); Singles (3,1,4,5,2,6)
Official: Michael Butler
T-2:54 A-209

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