Blue Devils to Host ITA Kickoff Weekend Friday/Saturday

Friday, January 26

Durham, N.C.

3 p.m.

Duke University

Princeton

Photo by: Duke Athletics

Blue Devils to Host ITA Kickoff Weekend Friday/Saturday

1/25/2024 3:00:00 PM | Women's Tennis

Live Scoring Watch

Princeton (1-0) at #15 Duke (4-0)
Friday, Jan. 26 at 3 p.m.
Sheffield Indoor Tennis Center * Durham, N.C.
Live Scoring l Watch l Cracked Racquets - ESPN+ l Digital Game Program

Denver (1-0) vs. #14 Auburn (0-1)
Friday, Jan. 26 at 6:30 p.m.
Sheffield Indoor Tennis Center * Durham, N.C.
Live Scoring l Watch l Cracked Racquets - ESPN+

Championship Match
Saturday, Jan. 27 at 4 p.m.
Sheffield Indoor Tennis Center * Durham, N.C.
Live Scoring l Watch l Cracked Racquets - ESPN+

Consolation Match
Saturday, Jan. 27 at 7 p.m.
Sheffield Indoor Tennis Center * Durham, N.C.
Live Scoring l Watch l Cracked Racquets - ESPN+

DURHAM – The 15th-ranked Duke women's tennis team (4-0) is set to host the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Kickoff Weekend Jan. 26-27 inside Sheffield Indoor Tennis Center.

Top-seeded Duke will face Princeton (1-0) on Friday at 3 p.m., followed by 14th-ranked Auburn (0-1) versus Denver (2-0) at 6:30 p.m. Both winning teams will then face each other on Saturday, Jan. 27 at 4 p.m., followed by the losing teams at 7 p.m.

The winning team of the championship match on Saturday will advance to the National Team Indoors Feb. 9-12 in Seattle, Wash.

Live scoring and live video will be available for all four matches via www.GoDuke.com. Coverage will also be available via Cracked Racquets CrossCourt Cast Coverage on ESPN+.

Match Information
All home Duke tennis matches are free admission.

General public parking will be available in the blue zone, with the easiest entrance being at the south end of the Sheffield Indoor Tennis Center. ADA parking is available in the Card Lot with an accessible entrance available on the north end of the Sheffield Indoor Tennis Center. Guests with disabilities will be able to use the elevator indoors to go up to the seating level. The newly renovated addition to the Sheffield Indoor Tennis Center will be accessible via a mulched path on the northwest side of the building. Guests will then be able to use the elevator to go to the seating level.

Ashworth Reaches 600 Wins
Head coach Jamie Ashworth reached his 600th victory on Jan. 20 in a 4-2 win over Illinois. He accomplished this mark in only 747 matches becoming the quickest coach to 600 wins.

Quickest to 600 Wins – 747 by Jamie Ashworth (Duke), 749 by Jeff Wallace (Georgia), 779 by Brian Kalbas (William & Mary/North Carolina) and 785 by Lin Loring (UC Santa Barbara/Indiana).

Ashworth became the seventh NCAA Division I coach to reach the 600-win ledger – Loring (846), Wallace (818), Kalbas (748), Jay Louderback (703), Geoff MacDonald (631), Gualberto Escudero (Pepperdine) and Ashworth (600).

ITA Kickoff Weekend
The Blue Devils feature a 26-2 ledger in action in the ITA Kickoff Weekend over the history of the program. The two losses came in 2021 (Georgia Tech) and 2022 (Oklahoma) in Durham. Duke has never faced Princeton, Auburn or Denver in the ITA Kickoff.

Duke will be looking to advance to the ITA National Team Indoors for the 32nd time in school history. The Blue Devils won the event in 2003 and 2014.

The Series with Princeton
Duke and the Princeton Tigers will face off for the 19th time in school history. Duke is 15-3 all-time in the series and has won its last 12 matches. The Blue Devils hold a 12-2 record in matches played in Durham. In their last matchup in 2022, the Blue Devils took the contest, 4-2.

This will mark the first of two meetings between Duke and Princeton this season as the two teams are slated to face off again on March 13 in Orlando, Fla.

Scouting Princeton
Princeton owns a 1-0 record on the season with a 4-3 victory over Rutgers at home. The Tigers are coming off four-consecutive Ivy League Championships and three-straight NCAA Tournament second round appearances. In 2023, Princeton went 17-7 overall and a perfect 7-0 in Ivy League play. The Tigers are led by head coach Jamea Jackson who enters her second season at the helm.

In the latest ITA Rankings, Madeleine Jessup is ranked No. 93 in singles, while Maia Sung and Isabella Chhiv are No. 40 in doubles.

Duke Versus the Ivy League
The Blue Devils own a 35-4 record versus the Ivy League Conference—Brown (2-0), Columbia (2-0), Dartmouth (1-0), Harvard (6-0), Penn (2-0), Princeton (15-3), Yale (7-1). Duke is on a current 27-match win streak versus Ivy League opponents.

Hey, I Know You
Duke graduate student Brianna Shvets will face her former squad this weekend as she was a four-year letterwinner at Princeton from 2018-22. She tallied a 59-26 ledger in singles and 46-25 mark in doubles. Shvets graduated from Princeton in May of 2022 with a degree in public policy and international affairs. She is currently enrolled in the Daytime MBA program at Duke Fuqua School of Business.

The Series with Denver
Duke and Denver could meet each other for the first time in school history.

Scouting Denver
Denver owns a 2-0 overall record on the season under head coach Paul Wardlaw. The Pioneers began action with wins against Air Force and Colorado State. Denver is coming off an 18-5 season, finishing 6-0 in conference action leading the Pioneers to a conference title.

Duke Versus the Summit League
Duke has only faced one opponent from the Summit League over its history. The Blue Devils' sole victory came against Oral Roberts on May 15, 1999, in which Duke swept the Golden Eagles, 5-0.

The Series with Auburn
The Blue Devils and the Tigers could face off against each other for the seventh time in school history and the first time since 1994. Duke is 6-0 all-time in the series.

Scouting Auburn
Auburn holds a 0-1 overall record on the season as the Tigers opened play at No. 1 ranked North Carolina and dropped a 6-1 decision. In the latest ITA rankings, the Tigers are ranked No. 14 as a team and feature three in the singles ledger — Carolyn Ansari (8), DJ Bennett (34), and Selin Ovunc (122). In doubles, Ovunc/Bennett (30) and Ariana Arseneault/Ansari (53) are ranked.

Duke Versus the Southeastern Conference (SEC)
The Blue Devils hold a 101-78 record versus SEC foes—Florida (5-36), Georgia (16-15), Kentucky (13-5), South Carolina (18-8), Tennessee (18-3), Vanderbilt (3-6), Alabama (3-1), Arkansas (3-0), Auburn (6-0), LSU (2-1), Mississippi (6-2), Mississippi St. (2-0), Texas A&M (6-1). Duke is currently on a 3-match win streak versus SEC opponents.

What is Next?
After opening the season with six straight home matches, the Blue Devils hit the road for the first time in 2024 Feb. 2-3. Duke heads to Columbus, Ohio to face Ohio State on Feb. 2 at 1 p.m., and then a neutral site match versus UCLA at 12 p.m., on Feb. 3 in Columbus.

Playing at Home
Inside the Sheffield Indoor Tennis Center, the Blue Devils feature an 18-match winning streak dating back to the 2021-22 campaign. Since the Sheffield Indoor Tennis Center opened in the 2008-09 season, Duke has registered an impressive 101-3 ledger.

Kimchi Tabbed ACC Freshman of the Week
Coming off an undefeated week, Duke's Shavit Kimchi was voted ACC Freshman of the Week on Tuesday, as announced by the league office.

Kimchi, a native of Sdey Hemed, Israel, opened her week with a pair of singles wins against NC Central and Charlotte before heading into a weekend contest with Illinois. The Blue Devils found themselves in a hole after dropping the doubles point, but in the end on court one, Kimchi clinched the 4-2 victory over the Illini. The rookie registered a 3-0 ledger in singles and went 2-0 in doubles, while also clinching two matches for the Blue Devils on the week. As a team, Duke opened the season with a 4-0 record and is ranked No. 15 nationally.

Kimchi is the first freshman since Emma Jackson to earn ACC weekly honors. Jackson, a current junior, received ACC Freshman of the Week recognition on March 8, 2022.

In the Rankings
Duke is ranked No. 15 nationally in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) rankings. The Blue Devils have been listed in the top-16 of the preseason ITA poll each of the last 24 seasons.

In the latest ITA singles rankings, Katie Codd is No. 52, Shavit Kimchi is No. 65, Ellie Coleman is No. 74 and Brianna Shvets is No. 78.

ACC Doubles Team of the Week
The Duke's doubles duo of Brianna Shvets and Iuliia Bryzgalova were tabbed the ACC Women's Tennis Doubles Team of the Week on Jan. 16 as announced by the league office. The Blue Devil tandem helped lead 15th-ranked Duke to a 5-2 victory over SMU inside the Sheffield Indoor Tennis Center on Jan. 13 in the season opener.

In doubles action on court three, Shvets and Bryzgalova were in a nailbiter against SMU's Hadley Doyle and Drew Morris. After the Mustangs won the first game, Shvets and Bryzgalova came back to win three straight to take a 3-1 advantage. Doyle and Morris responded by winning four consecutive games to go ahead 5-3. Shvets and Bryzgalova fought off match points, while winning a key deuce point to cut the SMU lead to 5-4. The Blue Devils evened the score, 5-5, but once again fell behind, 6-5. Shvets and Bryzgalova continued battling and set the match into a tiebreaker, before winning 7-3.

The victory for Duke on court three clinched the much-needed doubles point for the Blue Devils and helped propel them to a season-opening win. Shvets and Bryzgalova, who are graduate students at the Fuqua School of Business, competed for the first time as a doubles team in a dual match.

A Look at the Blue Devils
Duke returns six letterwinners, including five starters from a season ago, as head coach Jamie Ashworth enters his 29th season with the Blue Devils.

Graduate students Brianna Shvets and Iuliia Bryzgalova, along with senior Karolina Berankova, junior Emma Jackson and junior Ellie Coleman all started matches in 2023. Sophomore Katie Codd and freshman Shavit Kimchi turned in solid fall seasons and are expected to provide a lift for the Blue Devils this spring.

The Blue Devils have to replace some key personnel from a season ago, after losing three of their top performers from 2023 – Chloe Beck, Cameron Morra and Georgia Drummy. The trio combined to produce a 66-27 ledger last year.

Match-Clinching Points
Five current Blue Devils have clinched match wins for Duke over their career -- Emma Jackson (11), Ellie Coleman (9), Brianna Shvets (3), Shavit Kimchi (2) and Iuliia Bryzgalova (1). Shvets owns nine match-clinching wins over her career with Duke and Princeton, while Bryzgalova owns six with both Penn and Duke.

Noting the Blue Devils

Since opening the dual match season with a loss to SMU, rookie Shavit Kimchi has won three straight dual matches.She has played with three different Duke teammates in doubles and is 3-0 in dual match action.
The trio of Katie Codd, Ellie Coleman and Emma Jackson have opened the season with a 3-0 dual match record in singles play.
After seeing limited action as a freshman, Katie Codd had an impressive fall totaling a 7-4 record, including winners of five out of her final six matches.She tallied a 6-3, 7-5 victory over Vanderbilt's Celia Belle Mohr for the highest ranked victory of her career. With her three wins to open the dual match season, Codd is now 5-0 in dual matches over her short career.
Graduate student Iuliia Bryzgalova needs six singles wins to reach 100 for her collegiate career, while fellow graduate student Brianna Shvets needs 11 wins for 100.
The Blue Devils have won 49 out of the last 50 matches when winning the doubles point.Duke had won 47 in a row, before a defeat in the NCAA Tournament second round last season to UCLA.
In the fall, freshman Shavit Kimchi became the first Blue Devil to open her collegiate career with a pair of top-30 ranked wins since Beatrice Capra accomplished it in 2010-11.Over the last 17 years, only Kimchi and Capra registered this feat.

To stay up to date with Blue Devils women's tennis, follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook by searching "DukeWTEN".

Duke Centennial
In 2024, Duke celebrates its Centennial, marking one hundred years since Trinity College became Duke University. Duke will use this historic milestone to deepen the understanding of its history, inspire pride and strengthen bonds and partnerships, and prepare for a second century of continued excellence and impactful leadership. To learn more, please visit 100.duke.edu

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