Women’s Tennis to Host Kentucky & JMU This Weekend in Sheffield

Friday, January 30

Durham, N.C.

5:00 p.m.

Duke University

Kentucky

Photo by: Duke Athletics

Women’s Tennis to Host Kentucky & JMU This Weekend in Sheffield

1/29/2026 4:22:00 PM | Women's Tennis

DURHAM, N.C. – The seventh-ranked Duke women's tennis team remains at home this weekend as the Blue Devils host Kentucky and James Madison Friday, Jan. 30 and Sunday, Feb. 1, respectively, inside the Sheffield Indoor Tennis Center.

The Blue Devils (3-0) will face Kentucky (2-0) Friday at 5 p.m., while the James Madison (1-2) will take on the Blue Devils Sunday at 12 p.m.

The Blue Devils are currently riding a 13-match home winning streak heading into action this weekend. Admission is free and parking will be available in the blue zone lot adjacent to the Sheffield Indoor Tennis Center.

The Series with Kentucky
Duke and Kentucky will meet for the 19th time in program history with the Blue Devils leading the series, 13-5. In matches played in Durham, Duke holds a 5-3 ledger. The last time the two teams squared off was on Jan. 25, 2014 in Durham with Duke posting a 4-0 victory.

Scouting Kentucky
Kentucky enters the contest with a 2-0 record with wins coming against Eastern Kentucky (6-1) and Miami of Ohio (7-0). The Wildcats are coming off a 2024-25 campaign where they posted a 14-13 overall and 6-11 SEC mark.

Duke Versus the SEC
The Blue Devils hold a 60-42 record against the Southeastern Conference (SEC).

The Series with James Madison
Duke and James Madison will meet for the fourth time in school history with the Blue Devils leading the series, 3-0. Last season, Duke totaled a 6-1 victory over the Dukes on Jan. 11, 2025 with Irina Balus, Shavit Kimchi and Ava Krug registering singles wins.

Scouting James Madison
James Madison enters the weekend with a 1-2 record with a win against Omaha (6-1) and losses to Princeton (4-3) and Nebraska (5-2). The Dukes are scheduled to face Kentucky Saturday, Jan. 31 in Durham at 11 a.m., prior to facing the Blue Devils.

Duke Versus the Sun Belt Conference
The Blue Devils hold a record of 16-0 against the Sun Belt Conference - James Madison (3-0), Appalachian State (1-0), Old Dominion (10-0) and South Alabama (2-0).

Duke Advances to ITA National Team Indoors
With a 4-0 victory over South Carolina during the ITA Kickoff Weekend, the Blue Devils advanced to the ITA National Team Indoor Championships for the 32nd time in program history and the first time since 2023. The Blue Devils won the event in 2003 and 2014.

Duke will be at the Illinois site at the championship along with Illinois, North Carolina, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Texas, Texas A&M and Vanderbilt. Teams at the Northwestern site will be Auburn, LSU, Georgia, NC State, Northwestern, Oklahoma State, Tennessee and Virginia.

Duke now owns a 29-4 ledger in action during the ITA Kickoff Weekend.

What is Next
Duke will travel to Champaign, Illinois to compete in the National Team Indoors from Feb. 6-9. Full brackets will be released Tuesday, Feb. 3.

ITA Rankings
Duke moved up to No. 7 nationally in the ITA rankings as a team this week.

Head coach Jamie Ashworth has guided Duke to 21 top-10 preseason rankings in his 30 seasons as the head coach of the Blue Devils. Duke has been in the preseason top-16 nationally in each of the last 30 years under Ashworth.

In singles play, Irinia Balus (#22), Eleana Yu (#87), Shavit Kimchi (#93) and Liv Hovde (#98) were ranked. Duke featured three doubles teams as well with Kimchi/Hovde (#14), Hovde/Balus (#22) and Yu/Claire An (#32).

Blue Devils Add Aspen Schuman for Dual Match Action
In November, Duke head coach Jamie Ashworth announced the signing of Aspen Schuman. A native of Menlo Park, California, Schuman joined the Blue Devils in January and will compete this spring.

Schuman has an Intercollegiate Tennis Federation (ITF) career high ranking of No. 31 and a Women's Tennis Association (WTA) career-best ranking of No. 931. In the Tennis Recruiting Network rankings, Schuman is listed No. 4 nationally and she has been listed as high as No. 1 in the United States Tennis Association (USTA) Girls' 18s national rankings. A six-time Junior Grand Slam main draw competitor, Schuman has won five ITF junior singles titles and is a two-time ITF W15 Tournament finalist.

Home Court Advantage
Since the 2000-01 season, Duke has collected a 276-27 record at home. Inside Sheffield Indoor Tennis Center, the Blue Devils have totaled a 46-10 ledger since opening its doors in 2000-01. Over the last 10 years, Duke owns a 69-3 record inside Sheffield. The Blue Devils currently feature a 13-match home winning streak.

Balus Earns All-America Accolades Once Again
For the second year in a row, Duke sophomore Irina Balus has earned All-America honors as she advanced to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Singles Championship in the fall.

Balus became just the fourth Blue Devil to earn All-America accolades in each of their first two seasons in Durham – Amanda Johnson (2001, 2002), Kelly McCain (2002, 2023) and Vanessa Webb (1996, 1997).

Balus won five out of her final seven matches to conclude the fall and owns a career singles mark of 24-16.

The Head Coach
Head coach Jamie Ashworth is in his 30th season with the Blue Devils and owns an impressive 639-162 ledger. In 2024, Ashworth registered 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 matches 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 (797), Jay Louderback (703), Geoff MacDonald (631), Gualberto Escudero (631) and Ashworth (636) (wins are entering the 2026 season).

Among the winningest coaches of all time, Ashworth ranks 10th with a 79.9 winning percentage, sixth with 638 wins, third for winningest active coaches by percentage (79.9) and second for winningest active coaches by victories (639).

Big Sets for Little Hearts
The Duke men's and women's tennis programs announced a partnership with the Duke Children's Hospital Pediatric and Congenital Heart Center called Big Sets for Little Hearts in the fall of 2024.

Big Sets for Little Hearts pledges will be made based on the number of sets won by the men's and women's tennis programs.

If you are interested in supporting Blue Devil tennis' partnership with Duke Children's, you can pledge for each set won during the season or make a one-time donation. Pledges start at $0.10, $0.50, $1.00 and $2.50. Based on last year's results, the smallest pledged donation would be equal to $64.70. For more information or to donate, click here.

The Duke Children's Pediatric and Congenital Heart Center is the No. 2 ranked pediatric cardiology and heart surgery program in the United States for newborns and children with congenital and acquired heart disease. The Duke Pediatric and Congenital Heart Center strives to improve their patients' outcomes and the quality of their lives.

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

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