No. 6 Duke Gets Past No. 20 Tennessee, 5-2

Friday, February 6

Durham, N.C.

6:00 PM

Duke University

Tennessee

Blue Devils Host Notre Dame and Boston College

No. 6 Duke Gets Past No. 20 Tennessee, 5-2

2/6/2015 10:08:00 PM | Men's Tennis

By: Duke Sports Information

DURHAM, N.C. – It took nearly everything No. 6 Duke had, but the Blue Devils rebounded from a 1-0 deficit to earn a 5-2 victory against No. 20 Tennessee on Friday evening inside the Sheffield Indoor Tennis Center. The Volunteers won the doubles point, but Duke won four of the first five singles matches completed to capture the win.

Junior Bruno Semenzato earned the match-clinching point with a straight-set victory against Luis Valero on court four. It was also a big night for redshirt senior Chris Mengel, whose win in singles was the 100th victory of his career. He became the 13th Blue Devil in program history to reach the 100-win plateau.

“That's a cool one,” Mengel said. “That's one you see on the wall when you walk into the building. I didn't tell a soul. Honestly, I was more concerned with beating Tennessee and I knew I was going to have to win my match, regardless.”

The triumph moved Duke to 7-0 this season, marking just the fifth time in program history the Blue Devils have been 7-0 or better to begin a campaign. Duke also extended its winning streak against ranked foes to seven straight and the Blue Devils have captured 15 of their last 17 matches versus ranked opponents.

“I thought we competed really well tonight,” head coach Ramsey Smith said. “We obviously bounced back really well after losing the doubles point. They're very good in doubles. I feel like we competed incredibly well in singles and won a lot of big points. That's a team that has given us some problems and I'm proud of our guys today.”

Duke dropped the doubles point for the second straight match as Tennessee won on courts one and three. Court one was the first to finish as the No. 2 team in the country of Hunter Reese and Mikelis Libietis downed senior Raphael Hemmeler and freshman Nicolas Alvarez, 6-1. Reese and Libietis went up a break in the second game of the set and never looked back.

On court two, senior Jason Tahir and junior Josh Levine earned a break and took a 3-1 lead against Brandon Fickey and Valero before gaining another break to go up 5-2. The Volunteers recorded a break and won another game to make it 5-4 before Tahir closed out a 6-4 victory.

Seconds later the set was decided on court three, where the teams stayed on serve until the final game. Tennessee's Andrew Dromsky and Jack Schipanski earned a 6-4 win against Mengel and Semenzato. The Blue Devil pair fought off double break points twice, but could not do it three times. Mengel and Semenzato were tied 40-40 and down 5-4 when Mengel hit a return into the net, resulting in the Tennessee victory. It was the first loss of the spring for Mengel and Semenzato.

The Blue Devils had a huge answer in singles, taking the first set in five of the six matches and winning five of the six matches.

“That was huge for momentum,” Smith added. “It helps every single player out there. We tell them to stay focused on their court, but it's impossible not to see and feel what's going on. We set the tone really well at the beginning of singles. That got us going and we were able to finish it out.”

The comeback began on court two, where Alvarez, ranked No. 18, earned a 6-3, 6-2 victory against Reese. Alvarez trailed Reese 3-2 in the first set before earning a break and making it count with a 6-3 triumph. In the second set, Alvarez got the break right away, taking a 3-0 lead en route to the victory. Alvarez improved to 22-4 this spring and is eight victories shy of entering Duke's top-10 chart for wins by a freshman in a year.

Finishing just behind Alvarez and giving Duke a 2-1 lead in the match was Mengel on court five. Mengel downed Fickey, 6-3, 6-1. Mengel took an early break in the first set for a 2-0 lead before Fickey narrowed it to a 4-3 deficit, only to have Mengel win the final two games in the opening set. In the second set, Mengel jumped out to a 4-1 advantage, held serve and broke Fickey in the final game for the victory. Mengel has won his last seven matches.

The overall lead did not last long, however, as No. 16 Libietis defeated No. 36 Tahir 6-4, 6-3 on court one to tie the match at 2-2. Libietis won first set as Tahir was broken in the 10th game. In the second set, Libietis broke Tahir and took a 3-1 advantage before closing out the set.

Duke regained the lead minutes later on court three as No. 103 Hemmeler defeated Schipanski 6-2, 6-3. After being tied 1-1 in the opening set, Hemmeler earned a break and won five of the next six games. In the second set, Hemmeler trailed 3-1 before coming back and winning three straight games to take a 4-3 lead. He then broke Schipanski for a 5-3 lead and served out the set for the victory.

For the first time this spring, it was No. 112 Semenzato with the match-clinching point with a 6-4, 7-5 victory against Valero on court four. Semenzato got a late break in the first set to go ahead 5-3 and held on for the 6-4 victory. In the second set, he held a 3-1 lead before Valero stormed back to take a 5-4 advantage. Semenzato held serve to tie it at 5-5 before breaking Valero and holding on for the win to secure the match for Duke.

“It was very special for me,” Semenzato said. “Last year I lost the deciding match on a third-set tiebreak at Tennessee. It was a great match, but I felt really bad for letting the team down. Now, coming back and playing the best tennis I've played so far this year and clinching this was really special.”

Closing out the match was reigning ACC Player of the Week Levine, who used a little three-set magic for the third consecutive match and won 6-4, 4-6, 1-0 (7). Levine held a 5-2 advantage in the first set before holding on for the victory. He then took a 3-2 advantage in the second set before Jones responded with wins in four of the next five games. With the overall match already decided, the third set went to the super tiebreak with the first-to-10-points format. Jones led 4-1 and 6-3 before Levine dug in, winning five consecutive points to take an 8-6 lead. Jones got one final point before a point and final ace from Levine ended the match and extended Levine's winning streak to 10 matches.

“We're undefeated and have different guys stepping up at different times,” Mengel said. “We're very selfless. I think it's a really good team vibe right now. We're just out competing teams right now. We've gone into some tough places like Illinois and Kentucky. I don't think we're playing amazing, but when it comes down to it, guys are answering. We're outcompeting guys at critical moments and that's why we're 7-0.”

Duke returns to action Sunday with a doubleheader with No. 47 Michigan (1-3) and N.C. Central (0-2). First serve against the Wolverines is set for 12 p.m. ET while the match against the Eagles will begin at approximately 5 p.m. ET.

#6 Duke 5, #20 Tennessee 2
Feb 6, 2015 at Durham, N.C. (Sheffield Indoor Tennis Center)

Singles competition
1. #16 Mikelis Libietis (UT) def. #36 Jason Tahir (DU) 6-4, 6-3
2. #18 Nicolas Alvarez (DU) def. Hunter Reese (UT) 6-3, 6-2
3. #103 Raphael Hemmeler (DU) def. Jack Schipanski (UT) 6-2, 6-3
4. #112 Bruno Semenzato (DU) def. Luis Valero (UT) 6-4, 7-5
5. Chris Mengel (DU) def. Brandon Fickey (UT) 6-3, 6-1
6. Josh Levine (DU) def. Jess Jones (UT) 6-4, 4-6, 1-0 (10-7)

Doubles competition
1. #2 Hunter Reese/Mikelis Libietis (UT) def. Raphael Hemmeler/Nicolas Alvarez (DU) 6-1
2. Jason Tahir/Josh Levine (DU) def. Brandon Fickey/Luis Valero (UT) 6-4
3. Andrew Dromsky/Jack Schipanski (UT) def. Chris Mengel/Bruno Semenzato (DU) 6-4

Match Notes
Tennessee 4-3; National ranking #20
Duke 7-0; National ranking #6
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2,3); Singles (2,5,1,3,4,6)
T-2:31 A-436

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