Blue Devils Hit Road for SMU, Michigan This Weekend

#20 Duke (8-2, 2-0 ACC) at #30 SMU (7-2, 1-1 ACC)
Friday, Feb. 27 * 6 p.m.
Dallas, Texas * Styslinger/Altec Tennis Complex
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#20 Duke (8-2, 2-0 ACC) at Michigan (2-4)
Sunday, March 1 * 12 p.m.
Ann Arbor, Mich. * Varsity Tennis Center
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DURHAM, N.C. – The Duke women's tennis team hits the road this weekend for a pair of contests as the 20th-ranked Blue Devils (8-2, 2-0 ACC) face 30th-ranked SMU (7-2, 1-1 ACC) Friday, Feb. 27 in Dallas, Texas at 6 p.m., as well as Michigan (2-4) Sunday, March 1 in Ann Arbor, Michigan at 12 p.m.

Friday's contest will be contested at the Styslinger/Altec Tennis Complex at SMU, while Sunday's match at Michigan will be played at the Varsity Tennis Center.

The Series with SMU
Duke and SMU will meet for the ninth time in program history with the Blue Devils leading the series, 5-3. Over the last two years since joining the ACC, Duke has defeated the Mustangs by a 5-2 and 4-2 marks with both matches played in Durham. It will be the second time the Blue Devils have played at SMU, but the first time since March 12, 1989 with the Mustangs winning 7-2. Duke has won five meetings in a row against SMU. Head coach Jamie Ashworth is 3-0 all-time against SMU.

Scouting SMU
SMU enters the weekend with a 7-2 overall and 1-1 ACC ledger. The Mustangs are 4-0 at home so far this season. SMU opened ACC play with a 4-1 victory on the road at Virginia Tech and the dropped a 4-1 decision at Virginia this past weekend. The Mustangs feature Sophie Llewellyn (#66) in the singles rankings. Caroline McGinley/Elena Mireles (#42) are in the doubles rankings.

The Series with Michigan
Duke and Michigan will meet for the 16th time in program history with the Blue Devils leading the series, 12-3. In matches played at Michigan, Duke is 3-2, but has won the last two contests. The Blue Devils have won each of the last four meetings with the Wolverines. Head coach Jamie Ashworth is 10-2 all-time against Michigan.

Scouting Michigan
Michigan enters the weekend with a 2-4 record. The Wolverines are coming off totaling a 7-0 victory Tuesday against Xavier. Michigan features Piper Charney (#12), Lily Jones (#20), Reese Miller (#83), Jessica Bernales (#85) and Emily Sartz-Lunde (#104) in the singles rankings. In the doubles rankings, Jones/Bernales (#34) and Charney/Emily Sartz-Lunde (#68) are listed.

Duke Versus the Big Ten
The Blue Devils own an all-time 139-31 record against Big Ten opponents – Illinois (8-1), Indiana (20-9), Iowa (3-0), Maryland (40-2), Michigan (12-3), Nebraska (2-0), Northwestern (22-5), Ohio State (8-3), Oregon (1-0), Purdue (3-0), UCLA (5-7), Southern California (3-0), Washington (4-0) and Wisconsin (8-1).

What is Next
Duke will host Louisville (March 13) and Notre Dame (March 15) in a pair of ACC matches in Ambler Tennis Stadium.

ITA Rankings
Duke is currently No. 20 nationally in the ITA rankings as a team.

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), Aspen Schuman (#86), Eleana Yu (#101) and Liv Hovde (#118) are ranked. Duke features three doubles teams as well with Shavit Kimchi/Hovde (#12), Hovde/Balus (#30) and Eleana Yu/Claire An (#39).

Schuman owns a 4-1 ledger to open her career and debuted in the national rankings this week.

Approaching 1,000 Wins as a Program
Duke is only four wins away from reaching 1,000 victories as a program. The Blue Devils currently feature a 996-304 ledger over the 49 years of the program. In NCAA history, only three programs have reached 1,000 wins – Stanford, Florida and Georgia. Duke will become the fourth.

Various Duke Notes

Irina Balus (12) and Liv Hovde (10) lead Duke with double-digit singles wins on the season.
Freshman Claire An is coming off registering both match-clinching wins over the weekend against Boston College and Syracuse. They were the first two match-clinching victories of her career.
In just two seasons, Liv Hovde has totaled a 32-7 overall, 23-5 dual match and 12-1 ACC record in doubles play.
Freshman Aspen Schuman has opened her collegiate career with a 6-1 overall and 2-0 ACC ledger in singles action. In doubles play, Schuman is 5-1 overall and 2-0 in ACC play.
Duke sophomore Irina Balus registered a win over Texas' second-ranked Carmen Andreea Herea, 7-6 (7-3), 4-6, 6-4, in the National Team Indoors. It marked the highest ranked win of her collegiate career.
Liv Hovde and Shavit Kimchi are ranked No. 12 nationally in doubles, which is their highest ranking of the season.

Doubles Team Nets Honor
The Duke tandem of Liv Hovde and Shavit Kimchi were named the ACC Doubles Team of the Week on Feb. 10, following the National Team Indoors.

Hovde and Kimchi collected a 2-1 record at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) National Team Indoors at the Atkins Tennis Center in Urbana, Illinois. The duo registered their first two ranked wins as the Blue Devils defeated Ohio State's 13th-ranked Hephzibah Oluwadare and Teah Chavez, 7-6 (7-2), and also knocked off 59th-ranked Tess Bucher and Alice Xu, 7-6 (7-3).

So far this season, Duke's duo has collected a 10-4 record. Hovde and Kimchi also advanced to the round of 16 at the NCAA Doubles Championship in the fall.

Balus Earns PNC Achievers Award
Duke women's tennis sophomore Irina Balus and fencing junior Dayaal Singh were named PNC Achievers of the Year for the 2024-25 campaign and were recognized at the Duke men's basketball game Feb. 14.

Since arriving on campus, Balus has made an immediate impact on the Duke women's tennis team. She is coming off a 2025 campaign where she earned ITA All-America honors, received as high as a No. 8 national ranking in singles and No. 8 in doubles and advanced to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Singles Championship. Balus, a native of Banská Bystrica, Slovakia, helped lead Duke to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Team Championship this past May and owns 27 wins over her first two seasons with the Blue Devils.

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.

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.

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 644-164 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 – Lin Loring (846), Jeff Wallace (818), Brian Kalbas (797), Jay Louderback (703), Geoff MacDonald (631), Gualberto Escudero (631) and Jamie Ashworth (636) (wins entering the 2026 season).

Among the winningest coaches of all time, Ashworth ranks 10th with a 79.9 winning percentage, sixth with 644 wins, third for winningest active coaches by percentage (79.9) and second for winningest active coaches by victories (644).

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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Blue Devils Hit Road for SMU, Michigan This Weekend

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Players Mentioned

Claire An

Irina Balus

Liv Hovde

Shavit Kimchi

Aspen Schuman

Eleana Yu

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Blue Devils Hit Road for SMU, Michigan This Weekend

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