Ashworth Nets 250 ACC Wins; Blue Devils Remain Undefeated in ACC Action with Victory Over SMU

Sunday, March 30

Durham, N.C.

11:00 AM

Duke University

SMU

Photo by: Bri Shaw, Duke Athletics

Ashworth Nets 250 ACC Wins; Blue Devils Remain Undefeated in ACC Action with Victory Over SMU

3/30/2025 2:28:00 PM | Women's Tennis

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

DURHAM, N.C. – Duke women's tennis head coach Jamie Ashworth became the first ACC coach to reach 250 ACC victories on Sunday as the ninth-ranked Blue Devils registered a 4-2 victory over 61st-ranked SMU at Ambler Tennis Stadium in Durham.

The Blue Devils remained undefeated in league play at 8-0, while improving to 16-2 overall on the year. Duke also won its 11th-straight contest. The Mustangs dropped to 9-11, 3-6 in the ACC. It marks the 14th time in program history Duke has opened league play at 8-0 and the first since 2017-18.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Duke jumped out early in the match to capture the doubles point by winning on courts one and three.
The 13th-ranked Blue Devil tandem of Ellie Coleman and Irina Balus were impressive as they didn't drop a game winning 6-0 on court one versus Sophie Llewellyn and Caroline McGinley.
On court three, Duke's Emma Jackson and Liv Hovde were trailing, 3-2, early against Kayla Schefke and Arianna Stravopoulus ,but regrouped and won four out of the next five games to win the match, 6-4.
When the doubles point was clinched, Duke's Shavit Kimchi and Ava Krug were trailing Ellie Pittman and Drew Morris, 4-3.
In singles play, Krug put the second point on the board for the Blue Devils as she defeated McGinley, 6-2, 6-1, on court six to give the Blue Devils a 2-0 lead. A product of Sarasota, Fla., Krug never trailed in her match to remain undefeated in dual match action.
Sophomore Eleana Yu was solid on court three as she never trailed in her contest with Pittman. Yu, who is from Mason, Ohio, was tied with Pittman, 1-1, early, but went on to win 11 out of the final 12 games to take the match, 6-2, 6-0.
With Duke leading, 3-0, SMU was able to get two points on the board as Stravopoulus posted a 6-3, 6-4 win over Kimchi on court four and Llewellyn notched a 6-4, 7-5 win over Hovde on court one.
Jackson, a senior out of La Grange Park, Ill., once again clinched the match for the Blue Devils as she battled back from being down in both sets to post a 6-3, 7-5 win over Morris to clinch the 4-2 win.
On court five, Duke's No. 125 Coleman was leading Schefke, 3-6, 6-3, 3-0, when the match was clinched.

NOTES

Emma Jackson and Liv Hovde won their seventh-consecutive match to move to 8-1 on the season and 6-1 in ACC action in doubles.
Jackson won her ninth-straight singles match to move to 8-0 in ACC play and 24-8 on the year.
With her ACC win, Jackson now owns 25 over her career to move into a tie for 19th on Duke's all-time charts along with Christine Neuman.
Jackson also totaled her 18th career match-clinching win Sunday, which continues to rank fourth all-time at Duke.
Shavit Kimchi snapped a six-match winning streak with the loss.
Duke head coach Jamie Ashworth now owns 250 ACC wins over his career to become the first ACC coach in league history to reach the milestone.
Ava Krug moved to 11-2 overall, 3-0 in the ACC and 6-0 in dual match play for her rookie campaign.
Eleana Yu improved to 15-6, 3-2 in the ACC in singles.
In doubles action, Irina Balus and Ellie Coleman improved to 19-8 overall and 5-3 in ACC play.

QUOTES

"Every conference match we play is important.I thought it was a little bit of a trap match there coming off the UNC and NC State [matches] and going to Cal and Stanford next week. I knew emotionally that we may be a little bit tired. It was good to get that doubles point. Ava hasn't played a lot of singles matches and to get out there and get a quick 2-0 lead was definitely helpful."--Duke head coach Jamie Ashworth
"I think we weren't clean at the start – we were giving away some free points. We just have to be better and I know we will be better. Like I said, it was a little bit of a trap thing.I could see it in the doubles. I said this was going to be a tougher match than it needed to be, but we dug deep there in singles – we had to.Emma down early in her singles match and came back there. Ellie was up in the third there.Anytime you can win in this conference is good." --Duke head coach Jamie Ashworth

NEXT MATCH

Duke will next travel to the West Coast to face California on April 4 at 4:30 p.m., along with Stanford on April 5 at 5 p.m.

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

#GoDuke

#9 Duke 4, #61 SMU 2
March 30, 2025
Ambler Tennis Stadium * Durham, N.C.

Doubles
1. #13 Ellie Coleman/Irina Balus (DU) def. Sophie Llewellyn/Caroline McGinley (SMU) 6-0
2. Shavit Kimchi/Ava Krug (DU) vs. Ellie Pittman/Drew Morris 3-4, unfinished
3. Emma Jackson/Liv Hovde (DU) def. Kayla Schefke/Arianna Stravopoulus (SMU) 6-4

Singles
1. Sophie Llewellyn (SMU) def. Liv Hovde (DU) 6-4, 7-5
2. #25 Emma Jackson (DU) def. Drew Morris (SMU) 6-3, 7-5
3. #41 Eleana Yu (DU) def. Ellie Pittman (SMU) 6-2, 6-0
4. Arriana Stravopoulus (SMU) def. #66 Shavit Kimchi (DU) 6-3, 6-4
5. #125 Ellie Coleman (DU) vs. Kayla Schefke (SMU) 3-6, 6-3, 3-0
6. Ava Krug (DU) def. Caroline McGinley (SMU) 6-2, 6-1
Order of Finish: Doubles (1,3*), Singles (6,3,4,1,2*)