Duke Earns 6-1 Road Win over Louisville

Sunday, March 20

Louisville, Ky.

11:00 AM

Duke University

Louisville

Duke Earns 6-1 Road Win over Louisville

3/20/2016 2:50:00 PM | Women's Tennis

Box Score: Duke 6, Louisville 1

By: Duke Sports Information

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- The eighth-ranked Duke women's tennis team, competing in Louisville, Ky., for the first time in program history, persevered in unfamiliar territory, earning a 6-1 victory over Louisville Sunday afternoon. The victory moves Duke to 12-2 on the year and 5-1 against conference opponents.

“For us, it's fun to go somewhere new,” head coach Jamie Ashworth said. “I don't think it was a factor in the match at all, but to go somewhere new, see another ACC school and experience something fresh after 22 years of coaching, it's good to go to another school.”

For the second consecutive match, the Blue Devils secured the doubles point, earning wins on courts one and two to provide Duke with a 1-0 advantage heading into singles.

The Duke tandem of sophomore Samantha Harris and freshman Kaitlyn McCarthy, competing together for the 14th time this season, led Duke off the doubles courts with a convincing 6-2 win over Louisville's Elle Stoke and Jessie Lynn. With the match tied at 2-2, Harris and McCarthy won four consecutive games to conclude the contest and earn their 11th win of the year. Harris and McCarthy have won five consecutive competitions dating back to a 6-0 victory over Fresno State's Sophie Watts and Anneka Watts Feb. 6.

The Blue Devils earned the 1-0 advantage in the team contest with a 6-1 win on court one, as the 18th-ranked tandem of senior Beatrice Capra and freshman Ellyse Hamlin downed Louisville's pair of Sena Suswam and Ariana Rodriguez to earn its team-best 14th victory of the year. The Duke pair jumped out to a 2-0 lead before Suswam and Rodriguez pulled within a game. Capra and Hamlin settled in after dropping the game to win the next four games and provide Duke with a 1-0 lead by earning the doubles point.

With the decisions on courts one and two determined, the match on court three remained unfinished, with the Duke duo of juniors Chalena Scholl and Alyssa Smith trailing Louisville's Olivia Boesing and Abbie Pahz, 4-3.

Duke worked quickly in singles action, picking up victories in straight sets on three of the six courts to claim the victory.

As she has done throughout the season, Harris led the Blue Devils off the singles courts with a straight-set, 6-1, 6-0, win over Stokes on court three. With the contest sitting at 2-1 in the first set, Harris won four consecutive games. Harris remained in control during the second set, never trailing en route to her 12th win of the year.

“When [Harris] is moving well and hitting her forehand heavy, she can be as dominant as anybody,” Ashworth said.” She's done that a couple times for us this year, playing well in doubles and then coming out and playing in a quick singles match. She played a great doubles match and it obviously carried over into singles. She played with a lot of confidence and was emotionally involved in the match, which is a big thing for her.”

The Cardinals nearly brought the score even after Louisville's Pahz downed Smith on court five, 6-4, 6-2. Smith stayed close with Pahz in the first set, as the Laguna Niguel, Calif., native's competitor never saw more than a one-game lead through the first seven games, but with Smith trailing 4-3, Pahz won a game to go up 5-3. Smith once again brought the score within a game, but Pahz closed out the first set, 6-4. In the second set, Smith fell behind, 5-0, and although she would win two straight games, bringing the score to 5-2, Pahz once again won the final, decisive game. Smith's record falls to 8-6 on the season with the loss.

Scholl, the 67th-ranked singles player in the country, extended Duke's lead to 3-1 after defeating Louisville's Jessie Lynn Paul, 7-5, 6-4, on court one. Scholl, who now owns a six-match win streak, found herself in a tight first set. With the first set tied at 4-4, Scholl won the game to take a 5-4 lead, but Paul once again tied the match at 5-5. Scholl settled in however, winning the final two games to go up a set. In the second set, Scholl jumped out to a 4-1 advantage, but Paul fought back to tie the set at 4-4. As she had done in the first set, Scholl took the final two games, earning the win and improving to 16-6 on the season.

The match on court two proved the deciding contest, as 32nd-ranked McCarthy defeated Rodriguez, 6-0, 6-4. After not dropping a game in the first set, McCarthy trailed early in the second set, 3-2. McCarthy, showing no signs of panic, won two straight games and secured a 4-3 lead that she would not relinquish. The Cary, N.C., native moved to 21-6 on the year with Sunday's result.

Although the team result was determined, matches on courts four and six were played out. On court four, Hamlin, the 106th-ranked singles player in the nation, defeated her opponent, Suswam, in three sets, 6-3, 2-6, 6-4, while redshirt freshman Christina Makarova dropped her opponent, Boesing, on court six, 6-7 (1-7), 6-3, 1-0 (10-7).

Duke concludes its stretch of four consecutive road matches Saturday, taking on Wake Forest in Winston-Salem, N.C., with the contest beginning at noon.

“We have to get back and have a really good week of practice,” Ashworth said. “We have a tough stretch of matches coming up. Wake Forest is probably the most improved team in the conference. We have UNC, Virginia and Michigan, right after that. We have a stretch here that's really going to define our season.”

#GoDuke

#8 Duke 6, Louisville 1

Singles competition
1. #67 Chalena Scholl (DU) def. Jessie Lynn Paul (LOU) 7-5, 6-4
2. #32 Kaitlyn McCarthy (DU) def. Ariana Rodriguez (LOU) 6-0, 6-4
3. Samantha Harris (DU) def. Elle Stokes (LOU) 6-1, 6-0
4. #106 Ellyse Hamlin (DU) def. Sena Suswam (LOU) 6-3, 2-6, 6-4
5. Abbie Pahz (LOU) def. Alyssa Smith (DU) 6-4, 6-2
6. Christina Makarova (DU) def. Olivia Boesing (LOU) 6-7 (1-7), 6-3, 1-0 (10-7)

Doubles competition
1. #18 Beatrice Capra/Ellyse Hamlin (DU) def. Sena Suswam/Ariana Rodriguez (LOU) 6-1
2. Samantha Harris/Kaitlyn McCarthy (DU) def. Elle Stokes/Jessie Lynn Paul (LOU) 6-2
3. Olivia Boesing/Abbie Pahz (LOU) vs. Chalena Scholl/Alyssa Smith (DU) 4-3, unfinished