Women’s Tennis Faces ETSU in NCAA First Round

Saturday, May 4

Knoxville, Tenn.

10 a.m.

Duke University

East Tennessee State

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Photo by: Duke Athletics

Women’s Tennis Faces ETSU in NCAA First Round

5/3/2024 3:12:00 PM | Women's Tennis

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DURHAM – The 21st-ranked Duke women's tennis team heads to Knoxville, Tenn., for the NCAA Tournament First and Second Rounds, which will be hosted by 16th-seeded Tennessee at Barksdale Stadium.

The Blue Devils (15-9) are set to face 65th-ranked East Tennessee State (17-7) on Saturday, May 4 at 10 a.m., in the first round. The Lady Vols (18-7) will host Murray State (17-5) in the first round on May 4 at 1 p.m. The winning teams of both matches will meet on Sunday, May 5 at 1 p.m., for a chance to advance to the NCAA Super Regional.

To follow the matches, head to www.GoDuke.com for live video and scoring. Cracked Racquets will also provide live coverage via its CrossCourt Cast coverage.

Duke in the NCAA Championship
In 34 appearances, the Blue Devils have tallied an 80-33 record for a 70.8 winning percentage, advanced to the NCAA Semifinals 11 different times and won the 2009 NCAA Championship. Duke head coach Jamie Ashworth has guided the Blue Devils into the NCAA Tournament each of his 28 seasons at Duke, including nine semifinal trips and the 2009 title. The Blue Devils have advanced to the NCAA semifinals in three out of the last five NCAA Tournament appearances.

Ashworth owns a record of 68-25 (.731) in the tournament over his tenure at the helm of the program.

Duke will travel for only the sixth time for the NCAA First and Second Rounds. Other years the Blue Devils have been away from Durham were 2020-21 in Waco, Texas, 2014-15 in Athens, Ga., 2009-10 in Charlottesville, Va., in 2006-07 in Chapel Hill, N.C., and in 1998-99 in Albuquerque, N.M.

The Blue Devils boast a record of 8-2 in NCAA First and Second Rounds at other sites.

The Series with East Tennessee State
Duke and East Tennessee State will face off for only the second time in series history. Duke holds a 1-0 all-time record against the Buccaneers, winning its last match, 4-0, in 2014 in the NCAA Tournament first round in Durham, N.C.

Scouting East Tennessee State
East Tennessee State owns a 17-7 overall record on the season with an undefeated mark in the Southern Conference at 7-0. In their last match, the Buccaneers bested Furman in the Southern Conference Championship, 4-1, on April 20, 2024.

In the latest ITA rankings, East Tennessee State slots at No. 65 in the team standings.

Duke Versus the Southern Conference (SoCon)
The Blue Devils own a 22-1 record versus SoCon opponents—Furman (16-0), East Tennessee State (1-0), UNC Greensboro (3-0), Chattanooga (2-1). Duke is currently on a 12-match win streak versus SoCon foes.

The Series with Tennessee
Duke and Tennessee have met 21 times in program history. Duke owns an impressive 18-3 mark against the Volunteers, winning its last match, 4-1, in 2017. The Blue Devils and Volunteers have faced off four times in Knoxville, Tenn. Duke owns a perfect 4-0 record in Knoxville, winning its last, 6-1, in 2006.

Scouting Tennessee
Tennessee holds an 18-7 overall record and 9-4 record in the Southeastern Conference (SEC). In its last match, Tennessee fell, 4-0, to Georgia in the SEC Tournament on April 20.

According to the latest ITA rankings, Tennessee slots as the No. 16 overall team in the nation. Sofia Cabezas (14) is the lone representative for the Volunteers in the singles ledger. In doubles, Cabezas/Elza Tomase (11) and Cabezas/Esther Adeshina (39) are ranked.

Duke Versus the Southeastern Conference (SEC)
The Blue Devils hold a 101-79 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 (6-1), LSU (2-1), Mississippi (6-2), Mississippi St. (2-0), Texas A&M (6-1).

The Series with Murray State
Duke and Murray State have never met in school history.

Scouting Murray State
Murray State owns a 17-5 overall record on the season and a perfect 8-0 record in the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC), winning its last match, 4-1, against Belmont to win the MVC Tournament on April 27.

Murray State possesses a roster full of experience with three graduate students (Emma Honore, Marit Kreugel and Natalie Slezakova) and two seniors (Sarah Bureau and Annika Pschorr).

Duke Versus the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC)
The Blue Devils have never faced an opponent from the MVC in school history.

Blue Devils vs. the NCAA Field
Duke owns a record of 7-9 against teams that received invitations to the 2024 NCAA Tournament – North Carolina (0-2), Georgia Tech (0-1), Miami (0-1), NC State (1-0), Notre Dame (0-1), Virginia (0-1), Florida State (0-1), Wake Forest (2-0), SMU (1-0), UCLA (1-0), Princeton (2-0), Ohio State (0-1) and Auburn (0-1).

What is Next?
The winner of the Knoxville site will advance to face the winner of the top-seeded Oklahoma State regional. It will take place May 11-12 at the higher seed.

Shavit Kimchi Receives NCAA Singles Invite
Freshman Shavit Kimchi received an invitation to compete in the NCAA Singles Championship, which will run from May 20-25 at the Greenwood Tennis Center in Stillwater, Okla.

Kimchi, who hails from Sdey Hemed, Israel, will be one of 64 singles players that will compete for a national championship. All matches will be the best-of-three sets. No-ad scoring and a seven-point tiebreaker (first to seven points, must win by two points) at six-games-all will be used for all matches.

In the Rankings
Duke is ranked No. 21 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, after earning a No. 15 preseason ranking.

In the latest ITA singles rankings, Shavit Kimchi (#63), Emma Jackson (#83), Ellie Coleman (#93), Katie Codd (#102) and Iuliia Bryzgalova (#110) are listed.

Kimchi Honored for Fifth Time
Rookie Shavit Kimchi closed the regular season by being named the ACC Freshman of the Week for the fifth time this season, as announced by the league office on Tuesday. The five ACC Freshman of the Week selections rank as the second-most in Duke history behind Kelly Chen with six in 2017-18.

Kimchi owns a 17-11 overall and 7-5 ACC ledger to go along with 14 doubles wins as a rookie.

Change in Doubles
Towards the end of the regular season, head coach Jamie Ashworth made a change in doubles lineups at the No. 1 and No. 2 slots. Emma Jackson and Shavit Kimchi teamed together for the first time this season at No. 2 and dropped only two games in their first outings. The duo are currently 3-1 on the year. Katie Codd and Karolina Berankova also teamed together for the first time and went 1-1, but dropped a tiebreaker against Notre Dame. They are now 2-2 on the season.

Duke won the doubles point in only five of 13 ACC regular season matches this season, but has won two out of the last three.

100-Win Marks
Recently graduate student Iuliia Bryzgalova became the 28th Blue Devil to reach the 100-win ledger with her pair of victories against Wake Forest and NC State. Bryzgalova registered her first ranked win of the season as she knocked off 43rd-ranked Anna Zyryanova of NC State to reach the 100-win mark.

Fellow graduate student Brianna Shvets also reached the 100-win mark against Virginia Tech to become the 29th Blue Devil to reach the milestone.

With her doubles win recently, Bryzgalova totaled her 100th career doubles win and moved her career doubles ledger to 106-32. She also owns a 74-16 career dual match doubles mark and is 28-4 over her time in the ACC and Ivy League in doubles.

Match-Clinching Points
Six current Blue Devils have clinched match wins for Duke over their career -- Emma Jackson (13), Ellie Coleman (9), Shavit Kimchi (7), Brianna Shvets (3), Katie Codd (3) and Iuliia Bryzgalova (2). Shvets owns nine match-clinching wins over her career with Duke and Princeton, while Bryzgalova owns seven with both Penn and Duke.

So far this season, Kimchi has clinched seven of Duke's 15 wins, which equals the Blue Devil single-season record with Emma Jackson (2021-22), Monica Turewicz (2011-12) and Mallory Cecil (2008-09).

Codd clinched both matches against Wake Forest and NC State in the same weekend on the road and owns three clinching points in ACC play this year.

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).

Noting the Blue Devils

Duke junior Ellie Coleman missed the last 16 matches since the Blue Devils opened ACC action.Coleman is ranked No. 93 nationally in singles.
The Duke doubles duo of Iuliia Bryzgalova and Brianna Shvets have won nine out of her last 11 doubles matches to improve to 15-7 overall and 7-3 in ACC action. The Blue Devil tandem of Shavit Kimchi and Katie Codd posted their first ranked win as a doubles duo with a 6-0 victory over 75th-ranked Cheng/Aksu of Virginia Tech.
Iuliia Bryzgalova has won nine out of her last 10 singles matches to improve to 13-9 overall and 8-2 in the ACC. She moved her ITA singles ranking to a season-high No. 81 towards the end of the regular season.
After seeing limited action as a freshman, Katie Codd had an impressive fall totaling a 7-3 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. Codd won her first six dual matches of her collegiate career.Codd is currently 11-2 at the No. 4 singles slot, while totaling an 18-8 overall and 6-3 ACC ledger.She has gone from eight wins as a rookie to 18 this season.Codd has won 16 out of her last 22 contests and seven out of her last nine matches.
Junior Emma Jackson registered her third career victory over a top-10 opponent recently as she defeated 10th-ranked Alexa Noel of Miami with a 3-6, 6-4, 10-8 win on the road.Jackson now owns seven victories this season against ranked foes.
So far this season, three Blue Devils have received ACC weekly honors – Shavit Kimchi (ACC Freshman of the Week five times) and Brianna Shvets and Iuliia Bryzgalova (ACC Doubles Team of the Week).
The Blue Devils have won 57 out of the last 58 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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