Sam Harris Named ACC Player of the Week

DURHAM, N.C. – Senior Samantha Harris of the No. 4 Duke women's tennis team has been named ACC Player of the Week as announced by the conference office on Tuesday afternoon. The honor is the first of the Melbourne, Australia native's career.

Harris played an integral role in Duke's road wins last weekend, beating No. 28 Syracuse and Pittsburgh. Like she has for the past two seasons, Harris took up the mantle of position No. 1 for the Blue Devils. There, she battled back from a first set deficit to knock off Syracuse's fourth-ranked Gabriela Knutson 0-6, 6-4, 6-0. That gave Harris a team-high 13 wins over nationally ranked opponents, against just six losses. After trailing 2-0, Harris' win over Knutson clinched Duke's come-from-behind 4-2 win.

On Sunday, Harris matched up with Pittsburgh's Gabriela Rezende and came away victorious 6-1, 6-2. The win gave Harris 39 career ACC wins, setting a new standard for Duke players. Harris has 10 conference wins this season, giving her three seasons reaching double-digit ACC wins. She is also two wins away from the first 30-win season of her career.

Harris' honor is the sixth weekly honor for the Blue Devils this season. Kelly Chen owns the other five, winning ACC Rookie of the Week each time. Harris is the first Blue Devil to be named ACC Player of the Week since Chalena Scholl earned the honor on March 1, 2016.

Harris and the Blue Devils return to action Friday, hosting No. 1 North Carolina in Ambler Tennis Stadium. Sunday will be Senior Day for Harris and classmate Rebecca Smaller when Duke hosts Virginia Tech.

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