Blue Devils & Tar Heels Tangle Wednesday in Durham

Wednesday, April 1

Durham, N.C.

5:00 p.m.

Duke University

North Carolina

Photo by: Duke Athletics

Blue Devils & Tar Heels Tangle Wednesday in Durham

3/31/2026 6:10:00 PM | Women's Tennis

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#5 North Carolina (18-2, 6-1 ACC) at #24 Duke (12-5, 6-1 ACC)
Wednesday, April 1 * 5 p.m.
Durham, N.C. * Ambler Tennis Stadium
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DURHAM, N.C. – Duke and North Carolina will renew their rivalry this week as the 24th-ranked Blue Devil women's tennis team hosts the fifth-ranked Tar Heels Wednesday, April 1 at 5 p.m., inside Ambler Tennis Stadium on campus.

Duke enters the match with a 12-5 overall and 6-1 ACC ledger, while North Carolina features an 18-2, 6-1 ACC mark. The Blue Devils enter the week with a 19-match home winning streak.

Admission is free and parking will be available in the Blue Zone lot adjacent to the Sheffield Indoor Tennis Center.

Inside the ACC Standings
Virginia leads the league with an 8-0 record in ACC play, while Duke is one of three teams with one loss – NC State (7-1), North Carolina (6-1) and Duke (6-1).

The Series with North Carolina
Duke and North Carolina will meet for the 97th time in program history with the series tied, 48-48. In matches played in Durham, the Blue Devils hold an 18-13 record. North Carolina has held the edge in the series as of late winning 15 out of the last 19 matches dating back to 2014. Duke registered a 4-2 victory over the Tar Heels last season in Chapel Hill as Liv Hovde, Emma Jackson, Shavit Kimchi and Ellie Coleman notched singles victories.

Scouting North Carolina
North Carolina owns an 18-2 overall and 6-1 ACC mark heading into the match this week. The Tar Heels are coming off dropping a 4-3 decision on the road at Virginia Sunday. North Carolina features five different ranked singles players – Reese Brantmeier (#2), Ange Oby Kajuru (#8), Tatum Evans (#27), Alanis Hamilton (#108) and Anna Frey (#111). In doubles action, UNC has three ranked teams – Brantmeier/Hamilton (#3), Oby Kajuru/Susanna Maltby (#4) and Mary Grace Rennard/Alana Boyce (#71).

Home Court Advantage
Since the 2000-01 season, the Blue Devils have posted an 182-27 combined home record between Sheffield Indoor Tennis Center (49-10) and Ambler Tennis Stadium (133-17). The program has also gone 72-3 at Sheffield over the past 11 years and recorded 14 undefeated outdoor seasons, most recently a 9-0 mark at Ambler in 2024-25.

Duke is riding a 19-match home winning streak at home dating back to last season.

What is Next
Duke will host a pair of ACC opponents this weekend at Ambler Tennis Stadium as the Blue Devils face Georgia Tech (April 3) and Clemson (April 4). The match against Clemson will mark senior day for Katie Codd. She will be recognized prior to the match.

ITA Rankings
Duke is currently No. 24 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, Irina Balus (#15) and Aspen Schuman (#77) are ranked. Duke features three doubles teams as well with Shavit Kimchi/Liv Hovde (#33), Hovde/Balus (#47) and Eleana Yu/Claire An (#84).

Duke Reaches 1,000 Wins as a Program
Duke registered its 1,000th victory as a program Sunday, March 29 as the Blue Devils posted a 4-0 victory over Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia. The Blue Devils currently feature a 1000-307 ledger over the 49 years of the program. In NCAA history, Duke became the fourth program to collect 1,000 wins – Stanford, Florida and Georgia.

Various Duke Notes

Katie Codd totaled her eighth career match-clinching win this past weekend against Virginia Tech. She has clinched three so far this season.
Shavit Kimchi owns 12 match-clinching wins in her career which ranks tied for 12th on Duke's all-time charts (Stats only available from 2005-06 to present)
Irina Balus (15), Liv Hovde (12), Claire An (10) and Aspen Schuman (10) lead Duke with double-digit singles wins on the season.
Freshman Claire An recently registered both match-clinching wins 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 35-9 overall, 26-7 dual match and 15-2 ACC record in doubles play.
Freshman Aspen Schuman has opened her collegiate career with a 10-2 overall and 6-0 ACC ledger in singles action. In doubles play, Schuman is 7-4 overall and 4-1 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.

Balus with Impressive Wins
Irina Balus is 10-2 this season in dual match action and 15-7 overall. She owns seven wins against nationally-ranked opponents, including victories against No. 2 and No. 12 players nationally. She has won 10 out of the last 12. Balus' win against No. 2 Carmen Andreea Herea of Texas marked just the 20th win in program history over a player ranked No. 2 or higher nationally.

Freshmen Impact
Claire An and Aspen Schuman have combined to open their collegiate careers with a 16-3 dual match record and 20-6 overall ledger. They are 9-0 in ACC action.

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 648-167 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 79.5 winning percentage, sixth with 648 wins, third for winningest active coaches by percentage (79.5) and second for winningest active coaches by victories (648).

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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