Blue Devils Total 4-1 Win Saturday Versus No. 20 Clemson

Blue Devils Total 4-1 Win Saturday Versus No. 20 Clemson

DURHAM, N.C. — On senior day for Katie Codd of the Duke women’s tennis team, the 24th-ranked Blue Devils registered a 4-1 victory over 20th-ranked Clemson Saturday at Ambler Tennis Stadium.

The Blue Devils won the doubles point for the second match in a row and then earned singles wins by Irina Balus, Claire An and Aspen Schuman.  An finished the week with a 3-0 singles ledger, while Schuman was 2-0.  Duke improved to 14-6 overall and 8-2 in the ACC, while Clemson dropped to 16-6, 6-4.

How It Happened

• On court one, Duke’s duo of Irina Balus and Shavit Kimchi jumped out to a 5-0 start with three of those coming off key deuce points.  Clemson’s 35th-ranked Jade Groen and Rinon Okuwaki came back to get on the board, 5-1, as they held serve.  The Blue Devils were able to close the match with a 6-1 victory on another deuce point.
• Duke’s Liv Hovde and Aspen Schuman took court two for the first time together facing 90th-ranked Talia Neilson-Gatenby and Romana Cisovska.  Hovde and Schuman jumped out to a 2-0 lead, but the Tigers came back to even the score, 2-2.  Duke then won three games in a row, including back-to-back deuce points to take a 5-2 advantage.  Clemson responded with a run of its own winning four games in a row to take a 6-5 lead.  Hovde and Schuman fought off match point to win a deuce point to even the score, 6-6.  In the tiebreaker, Clemson went ahead, 1-0, but Duke came back to win five points in a row to lead, 5-1.  The Tigers cut into the lead, 5-3, but Schuman had a great point off the net and then Hovde finished a point at the net to clinch the doubles point with a 7-3 win.
• On court three, Duke’s 84th-ranked Eleana Yu and Claire An were in a battle with Artemis Aslanisvili and Sophie Clayton.  Clemson took a 2-0 lead and held a 3-1 advantage early.  The Blue Devils won a deuce point to cut into the lead, 3-2, but the Tigers went ahead, 4-2, after the next game.  Yu and An went on a run winning three games in a row to go ahead, 5-4, which included a deuce point to even the score, 4-4.  The match was abandoned with a score of 5-5 when the doubles point was clinched.
• Clemson came out in singles and evened the score, 1-1, as Cisovska totaled a 6-0, 6-3 win over Hovde on court three.
• Duke won the first set on five of the six singles courts.
• The Blue Devils regained the lead with a victory on court four as An posted a 6-2, 6-3 win against Neilson-Gatenby.  A native of Boca Raton, Florida, An took a 3-0 lead and then led 4-1.  After Neilson-Gatenby added another to cut into the lead, 4-2, An finished the first set with a 6-2 victory.  In the second, An once again opened with a 3-0 lead, but Neilson-Gatenby won two in a row to make it 3-2. With An leading, 4-3, she won a crucial deuce point to go ahead, 5-3, and eventually won, 6-3.
• Schuman, a Duke freshman ranked No. 77 nationally, faced Groen on court two.  After Schuman opened with a 3-0 lead, Groen took a 4-3 lead.  Schuman, who is from Menlo Park, California, rebounded by winning the final three games to take the first set, 6-4.  In the second, Groen jumped out to a 2-0 lead and led 4-2.  Schuman came back to win five of the next six games to win the set, 7-5, and give Duke a 3-1 lead.
• Duke’s 15th-ranked Balus had a tight contest with 53rd-ranked Okuwaki on court one.  With the match tied, 2-2, in the first set, Balus won a deuce point to go ahead, 3-2. Balus led again, 4-3, and 5-4, but Okuwaki came back to take a 6-5 lead.  Balus sent the match to a tiebreaker and won 7-5.  In the second set, Okuwaki led, 2-1, but Balus responded by winning five games in a row to win the set, 6-2, and clinch the victory for Duke, 4-1.  Balus, who hails from Banská Bystrica, Slovakia, totaled her eighth ranked win of the season and 19th of her career.
• When the match was clinched, Kimchi was leading Aslanisvili, 7-6 (7-1), 3-3, on court five and Codd was leading Ria Bhakta, 6-0, 5-2, on court six.  Codd, a product of Carlsbad, California, won five deuce points during her final home regular season contest.

Notes

• Irina Balus and Shavit Kimchi totaled their first win together as a doubles duo moving to 1-2 on the season. It was also their first win against a ranked opponent.
• Liv Hovde and Aspen Schuman are now 4-0 playing together in doubles and 4-0 in ACC action. They totaled their first win against a ranked opponent Saturday.
• Claire An moved to 13-4 overall and 6-0 in ACC action in singles.  She has won seven matches in a row.
• Schuman moved to 12-3 overall and 8-1 in ACC play on the year in singles.
• Irina Balus totaled her second career match-clinching win. She is now 16-8 overall and 5-2 in ACC play.
• Duke finished the regular season home slate with an 11-1 home record.
• The Blue Devils are now 135-18 in matches played in Ambler Tennis Stadium.

Quotes

• “One doubles, I thought was one of the cleanest matches we’ve played all year. In doubles, we came out, didn’t give up a lot of free points and made a lot of returns, which was big for us.  I thought the other doubles, the two doubles match, we kind of let it slip away a little bit. We went through a stretch. I think we lost like 10 or 11 straight points or something like that.  But they did a good job recovering and competing there at the end of the match.  Heading into the singles, I knew it was going to be a fight. They [Clemson] have had some good results this year.  I’m proud of Irina coming back and winning after not playing a great match yesterday.  Obviously, Katie on her senior day and Katie had lost to that girl earlier this year.  Overall, a good weekend for us, a good way to end our last home match.” – Duke head coach Jamie Ashworth
• “It was amazing. I mean, it’s a day that I’ve been looking forward to the entire season. I’m just so grateful to have my family and friends here supporting me and also my teammates behind me. It was such a great experience. And I felt like I went out there and played really well today. So, just to top it all up, it was amazing day.”  – Duke senior Katie Codd

Next Match

• Duke will next face 10th-ranked NC State Wednesday, April 8 at 4 p.m., in Cary at the Cary Tennis Park.