Women’s Tennis Advances to Super Regionals with 4-1 Win Against Tennessee

Saturday, May 2

Durham, N.C.

4 p.m.

Duke University

Tennessee

Photo by: Duke Athletics

Women’s Tennis Advances to Super Regionals with 4-1 Win Against Tennessee

5/2/2026 8:56:00 PM | Women's Tennis

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DURHAM, N.C. — The 15th-seeded Duke women's tennis team totaled a 4-1 victory Saturday afternoon at Ambler Tennis Stadium versus 19th-ranked Tennessee to advance to the NCAA Tournament round of 16 for the 30th time in program history.

The Blue Devils moved to 20-7 on the season and advanced to face top-ranked Auburn Friday, May 8 at 5 p.m., in Auburn, Alabama. The Lady Vols concluded their season with a 14-10 record.

Duke registered the doubles point and then collected singles wins by Liv Hovde, Eleana Yu and Claire An to clinch the victory.

How It Happened

In doubles action, the Lady Vols came out and drew first blood as 38th-ranked Francesca Mattioli and Vanesa Suarez totaled a 6-1 victory over Duke's 50th-ranked Shavit Kimchi and Irina Balus. Kimchi and Balus won the first game, but Tennessee responded by winning the next six to take the match.
Duke's duo of Liv Hovde and Ava Krug then collected a 6-2 victory against Katrina Scott and Maeve Thornton to even the ledger. Hovde and Krug jumped out to a 4-0 lead, but Scott and Thornton came back to cut into the score, 4-2. The Blue Devils were able to win the final two games, including a deuce point to clinch the win, 6-2.
The doubles point came down to court two with Duke's Claire An and Eleana Yu facing 21st-ranked Catherine Aulia and Leyla Britez Risso. With the match tied, 2-2, Duke went on to win four out of the next five games, including the final two by deuce point to clinch the doubles point for the Blue Devils and take a 1-0 lead.
Tennessee came out in singles and was able to even the score, 1-1, as 11th-ranked Scott totaled a 6-3, 6-1 win over Duke's 13th-ranked Balus on court one.
The Blue Devils regained the lead, 2-1, as Yu totaled a 6-3, 6-2 win over Mattioli on court five. After Yu took a 4-1 lead, Mattioli came back to make the score, 4-3, but Yu made a run of her own to claim the first set, 6-3. Yu led 5-0 in the second and eventually took the match with a 6-2 score.
After dropping the first set, 6-1, to 39th-ranked Leyla Britez Risso on court two, Duke's 124th-ranked Hovde regrouped and won back-to-back sets, 6-2, 6-3, to put the Blue Devils one point away from clinching the win. In the second set, Hovde and Risso were tied, 2-2, and Hovde went on to win four games in a row to send the match to a third set. Hovde led, 3-0, in the third, but Risso battled back to cut the score to 3-2. After winning the next two games to take a 5-2 lead, Hovde dropped the next game, but clinched the win with a 6-3 victory.
An, a freshman from Boca Raton, Florida, fell behind, 3-1, to Aulia to start the match on court three, but An closed strong winning five games in a row to take the first set, 6-3. Aulia broke An to open the second set, but An won six out of the next seven games to clinch the Duke victory with a 6-2 win.
When the match was clinched, Katie Codd was leading Saray Yli-Piipari, 6-3, 5-1, on court six and Kimchi was trailing 87th-ranked Suarez, 6-7 (5-7), 3-1.

Notes

Liv Hovde and Ava Krug played together for the second time in their career in doubles and moved to 2-0.
Duke's Eleana Yu and Claire An improved to 13-8 on the year in doubles. It marked their first ranked victory of the season as they defeated the No. 21 ranked Lady Vol tandem.
Irina Balus snapped a six-match winning streak in singles with her loss.
Eleana Yu totaled her third career singles win in the NCAA Tournament and is now 11-10 on the year in singles play.
Claire An collected her first collegiate NCAA Tournament singles win and is now 14-8 on the year. An clinched the win for the fourth time this season.
Liv Hovde collected her highest ranked victory of the season as she defeated No. 39 ranked Risso. It was her fourth ranked win of the year and she improved to 15-15 in singles play.
Duke improved to 39-2 all-time in NCAA Tournament action in Durham over the history of the program.

Quotes

"I thought we came out in doubles with some good energy. I thought our No. 1 team, even though they got down quick, just a point here and there [was important]. We threw Ava [Krug] in there in the doubles and she hadn't been a part of that in a while and she played unbelievably well. Held her serve there to start. They got a little bit of momentum and confidence, and Liv [Hovde] played a really good doubles match as well. Our two, they just make people play, they grinded it out and did a really good job. I thought we were able to carry that momentum into singles." -- Duke head coach Jamie Ashworth on opening doubles
"I am proud of the whole effort and everybody stepping up today that we needed to." -- Duke head coach Jamie Ashworth
"Obviously, it feels great to clinch and feels great to go to Auburn now." -- Duke freshman Claire An

Up Next

Duke will travel to Auburn, Alabama to face No. 1 ranked Auburn in the NCAA Tournament round of 16 at 5 p.m., Friday, May 8.

#15 Duke 4, #19 Tennessee 1
May 2, 2026
Ambler Tennis Stadium * Durham, N.C.

Doubles

#38 Francesca Mattioli/Vanesa Suarez (UT) def. #50 Shavit Kimchi/Irina Balus (DU) 6-1
Claire An/Eleana Yu (DU) vs. #21 Catherine Aulia/Leyla Britez Risso (UT)
Liv Hovde/Ava Krug (DU) def. Katrina Scott/Maeve Thornton (UT) 6-2