No. 2 Duke Wins Season Opener at William & Mary

Sunday, January 18

Willamsburg, Va.

1:00 PM

Duke University

William and Mary

No. 2 Duke Wins Season Opener at William & Mary

1/18/2015 5:18:00 PM | Women's Tennis

By: Duke Sports Information

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. -- The second-ranked Duke women's tennis team opened the dual match season with a hard-fought victory on the road Sunday, defeating William & Mary, 4-3, in Williamsburg, Va. The win marks the eighth straight season the Blue Devils opened dual match play with a victory.

“We played a very tentative and nervous doubles point,” head coach Jamie Ashworth said. “William & Mary came out with absolutely nothing to lose. We played doubles like we were defending something. We have to play freer than that. We did a good job of that in the singles. Singles were tight. We did a good job of battling back and winning a couple close singles matches.”

William & Mary jumped out to an early 1-0 lead on the Blue Devils after taking two of three doubles matches. The Duke tandem of junior Beatrice Capra and freshman Samantha Harris earned their first career dual match doubles victory after defeating Julia Casselbury and Melanie Roy, 6-4. The pair's win would prove to be the lone doubles victory for the Blue Devils however, as the senior duo of Ester Goldfeld and Annie Mulholland dropped their contest against William & Mary's Jeltje Loomans and Leeza Nemchinov, 6-4. The team of sophomore Alyssa Smith and freshman Rebecca Smaller was also unable to earn the victory, falling to William & Mary's Maria Groener and Olivia Thaler, 6-3.

Duke rebounded in singles play, winning the first four matches to clinch the match. Redshirt senior Rachel Kahan led Duke off the courts with a convincing 6-1, 6-3 win over Melanie Roy at the No. 3 position, bringing the Unionville, Conn., native's overall record this season to 10-5.

Goldfeld, ranked 87th by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's (ITA) preseason singles poll, also posted strong singles play, earning a 6-3, 6-4, win over 80th ranked Loomans. Goldfeld now owns a team-leading 11 wins in the 2014-15 season.

Smith found herself in a close match, facing William & Mary's Cecily Wuenscher. After taking the first set handily, 6-2, the second set between the two players required a tiebreak, which Smith won by a score of 7-6 (4), to take the match, 6-2, 7-6 (4). The win brought the Laguna Niguel, Calif., native's overall record even at 7-7.

Harris, competing in her first collegiate dual match, clinched the victory for the Blue Devils, outlasting Thaler, 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-4. Harris, ranked 55th by the ITA in singles, owns an overall record of 9-2.

Capra and Mulholland each put in a valiant effort, but were ultimately unable to defeat their respective opponents. Capra dropped her contest against Nemchinov, 2-6, 6-2, 4-6, while Mullholand fell to Groener, 4-6, 6-4, 4-6.

“We'll be better because of this match,” Ashworth said. “We learned a lot about ourselves. We need to understand that we're going to get the best from everyone we play. A lot of the teams we play against have nothing to lose, and they're going to swing freely. To have a tough match like this shows us that we have to be prepared and be ready to go against everyone. We're going to get the best from everyone, but we'll be better because of it. We have a tough group of girls, and when it got tight and close in singles, we were able to come through, especially getting momentum with winning some of the singles wins early.”

Duke returns to competition Saturday, Jan. 24, hosting ITA Kickoff Weekend in Durham, N.C. The Blue Devils are set to face Louisville at 12 p.m., before returning to the courts Sunday, Jan. 25, to face either Memphis or Furman at 1 p.m.

#GoDuke

Singles
No. 1 – Leeza Nemchinov (W&M) def. Beatrice Capra (Duke) – 6-2, 2-6, 6-4
No. 2 – #87 Ester Goldfeld (Duke) def. #80 Jeltje Loomans (W&M) – 6-3, 6-4
No. 3 – Rachel Kahan (Duke) def. Melanie Roy (W&M) – 6-1, 6-3
No. 4 – #55 Samantha Harris (Duke) def. Olivia Thaler (W&M) – 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-4
No. 5 – Maria Groener (W&M) def. Annie Mulholland (Duke) – 4-6, 6-4, 6-4
No. 6 – Alyssa Smith (Duke) def. Cecily Wuenscher (W&M) – 6-2, 7-6 (4)
Finishing Order: 3, 2, 6, 4*, 1, 5

Doubles
No. 1 – Loomans/Nemchinov (W&M) def. Mulholland/Goldfeld (Duke) – 6-4
No. 2 – Harris/Capra (Duke) def. Casselbury/Roy (W&M) – 6-4
No. 3 – Thaler/Groener (W&M) def. Smaller/Smith (Duke) – 6-3
Finishing Order: 3, 2, 1*