Kimchi Clinches Road ACC Victory, 4-2, at No. 30 SMU

Friday, February 27

Dallas, TX

6:00 p.m.

Duke University

SMU

Photo by: Duke Athletics

Kimchi Clinches Road ACC Victory, 4-2, at No. 30 SMU

2/27/2026 9:22:00 PM | Women's Tennis

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

DALLAS, Texas — Duke women's tennis junior Shavit Kimchi clinched a Blue Devil victory for the 12th time in her career Friday evening as the 20th-ranked Blue Devils logged a 4-2 win on the road at 30th-ranked SMU inside the Styslinger/Altec Tennis Complex in Dallas.

With the victory, Duke improved to 9-2 overall and 3-0 in the ACC, while SMU dropped to 7-3, 1-2.

How It Happened

SMU came out at the start of the match and earned the doubles point by winning on courts one and three.
The Mustang duo of Sophie Llewellyn and Natalie Stasny jumped out to a 4-0 lead against Duke's Irina Balus and Aspen Schuman on court three. The Blue Devils won the next game, but SMU then won the match, 6-1.
Duke's 12th-ranked Liv Hovde and Shavit Kimchi opened with a 3-1 lead early against Amelie Van Impe and Caroline McGinley on court one. The Mustangs then came back to win the match, 6-3, to clinch the doubles point.
On court two, Ellie Mireles and Addison Comiskey of SMU led Duke's 39th-ranked Claire An and Eleana Yu, 4-3, when the doubles point was clinched.
In singles action, Duke's An was able to even the score, 1-1, as she defeated Comiskey, 6-4, 6-0, on court six. An, who hails from Boca Raton, Florida, dropped the first two games of the first set, but came back to win six out of the next eight games to take the first set. She cruised through the second set to get the Blue Devils on the board.
The Blue Devils took their first lead of the match as 101st-ranked Yu defeated Mireles, 6-4, 6-0, on court four. A product of Mason, Ohio, dropped the first two games as well, but came back to win four games in a row to take a 4-2 lead. Mireles responded by winning two games to even the score, 4-4, but Yu won the next two games to take the first set. Along with An, Yu didn't drop a game in the second set to take the victory.
Duke then went ahead, 3-1, as 86th-ranked Schuman totaled a 6-2, 6-2 win on court three versus McGinley. Schuman, who is from Menlo Park, California, lost the first game and then won four in a row to go ahead, 4-1. She then dropped a game, but followed that up by winning the set, 6-2. In the second, Schuman fell behind, 1-0, but then again won four in a row to take a 4-1 lead. She closed the match with a 6-2 second-set victory.
SMU cut into the Blue Devil lead, 3-2, as 66th-ranked Llewellyn totaled a come-from-behind three-set win against Duke's 118th-ranked Hovde, 3-6, 6-2, 6-3, on court two.
Duke clinched the match with a 4-2 victory as Kimchi came back from dropping the first set, 6-4, against Stasny on court five. A native of Sdey Hemed, Israel, Kimchi bounced back after falling in the first set to win the second, 6-1. Kimchi fell behind, 1-0, in the third set, but won three games in a row to take a 3-1 lead. After Stasny cut into the Kimchi lead, 3-2, the Duke junior pulled ahead and clinched the match with a 6-2 win.
When the match was clinched, Duke's Balus was trailing Van Impe, 5-7, 6-2, 4-5 in the third set on the first court.

Notes

Duke is now three victories away from 1,000 in program history.
The Blue Devils moved to 6-3 all-time against SMU.
Claire An improved to 9-4, 3-0 in the ACC in singles play.
Aspen Schuman is now 7-1 to open her Duke career and is 3-0 in league action.
Eleana Yu won her third singles match in a row to move to 7-6 on the season and 39-17 in her career.
Shavit Kimchi won her fourth match out of her last five outings to improve to 8-7 on the season. She is now 15-6 all-time in ACC singles matches and 10-10 in three-set contests.

Quotes

"Any win on the road is a good win for us. I don't think we played our best. It was the first ACC match on the road and the first match we've played in 85-degree heat as well, which is something that we just haven't been able to prepare for. I thought that we looked a little bit flat in doubles, but did a good job recovering in singles, especially getting a couple of quick wins at in at the bottom with Claire and Eleana there, and then Aspen following that up. Three-set matches have kind of been our achilles heel this this semester. And so we put ourselves in a position where we had to win one three-set match. And I'm glad she was able to come through with that."
"Yeah, I think it was big for her. Especially coming off at National Team Indoors, she lost the deciding match against Texas and was kind of in that same situation. I mean, Irina was battling on court one, but it was good for good for Shavit to just mentally get over that hurdle." -- Duke head coach Jamie Ashworth

Next Match

Duke continues on the road this weekend as the Blue Devils travel to Michigan Sunday, March 1 at 12 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

#20 Duke 4, SMU 2
February 27, 2026
Dallas, Texas * Styslinger/Altec Tennis Complex

Doubles

Amelie Van Impe/Caroline McGinley (SMU) def. #12 Liv Hovde/Shavit Kimchi (DU) 6-3
#39 Claire An/Eleana Yu (DU) vs. Ellie Mireles/Addison Comiskey (SMU) 3-4 unfinished
Sophie Llewellyn/Natalie Stasny (SMU) def. Irina Balus/Aspen Schuman (DU) 6-1