Duke Downs Purdue, Advances to NCAA Second Round

Saturday, May 9

Athens, Ga.

9:00 AM

Duke University

Purdue (First Round)

Freshman Capra Nets Fifth ACC Player of the Week Nod

Duke Downs Purdue, Advances to NCAA Second Round

5/9/2015 1:15:00 PM | Women's Tennis

By: Duke Sports Information

ATHENS, Ga. – After falling behind 1-0 early in its match, the 20th-ranked Duke women's tennis team rebounded in singles to down 41st-ranked Purdue, 4-1, Saturday in Athens, Ga. With the victory, Duke advances to the second round of the NCAA Championships, where they'll face the winner of seventh-ranked Georgia and Charleston Southern Sunday at 1 p.m.

Purdue knocked the Blue Devils on their heels early, winning two of the three doubles matches to take a 1-0 advantage.

Duke was led off the doubles courts by senior Ester Goldfeld and sophomore Alyssa Smith, as the duo downed Purdue's tandem of Kristina Kapitany and Nicole Robinson, 8-0. Goldfeld and Smith cruised en route to their 11th win of the season, not dropping a game in the match.

The Boilermakers evened the doubles contest after the team of Lynda Xepoleas and Natalia Davila handed Duke's pair of senior Annie Mulholland and sophomore Chalena Scholl its second loss of the year. Mulholland and Scholl were unable to catch a rhythm as they fell, 3-8. The Duke pair trailed 0-5 from the outset, and although Mulholland and Scholl won three of the next four games, they were unable to maintain the momentum as Xepoleas and Davila won the final two games to secure the match.

With the matches on courts two and three split, the doubles point was decided on court one between Duke's 36th-ranked pair of junior Beatrice Capra and freshman Samantha Harris and Purdue's 59th-ranked team of Daniela Vidal and Tess Bernard-Feigenbaum. Capra and Harris found themselves in a 1-5 hole prior to the midway point of the match. The Duke tandem won three of the next four games, bringing the score to 4-6. Capra and Harris continued to battle, even as Vidal and Bernard-Feigenbaum came within a game of the match. With the scoreboard reading 6-7 in favor of the Boilermakers, Capra and Harris had an opportunity to force a tiebreak, but a timely break for Vidal and Bernard-Feigenbaum secured the doubles point for Purdue. With the loss, Capra and Harris fell to 9-4 on the year and 2-2 against nationally ranked opponents.

Although the Blue Devils trailed following the doubles matches, there was no sign of panic as Duke came out strong by taking the first set on five of the six singles courts.

“We were disappointed in our doubles play and the energy we had in doubles,” head coach Jamie Ashworth said. “The biggest thing we talked about after doubles is that we had to play with energy, determination and support [in singles]. We did a good job of recovering from that and not letting Purdue feed off of the doubles point.”

Scholl put in a dominant performance on court five to lead Duke off the singles courts as she upended Purdue's Nicole Robinson, 6-1, 6-2. Scholl dropped the opening game of the first set before winning out the remaining six games. In the second set, Scholl took a 4-1 lead over Robinson that proved insurmountable, giving the Pompano Beach, Fla., native her third win of the year.

Harris, the 86th-ranked singles player in the nation, continued her outstanding freshman campaign after defeating Xepoleas, 6-1, 6-4, on court three. With the first set knotted at 1-1, Harris won the next five games to take a one-set lead. In the second set, Xepoleas took an early lead before the two sat tied at 2-2. Harris won back-to-back games, giving her a 4-2 lead and the advantage needed to remain out front to secure the victory. Harris moves to 24-8 with the win.

Redshirt senior Rachel Kahan moved within four games of reaching the 100-win mark for her career after registering a 6-3, 6-3 win over Krisztina Kapitany on court four. In both sets, Kahan led from the start, taking a 4-0 lead in the first set and a 3-2 lead in the second. In the first set, Kapitany came within a game of tying the set at 4-4 before Kahan won the final three games. In the second set, Kahan won three of the last four games to earn her 19th win of the year. Kahan also gave Duke a 3-1 lead in the team score.

Capra, the 84th-ranked singles player in the nation, won in convincing fashion on court one to earn the win for Duke, defeating Vidal, 6-2, 6-1. The Ellicott City, Md., native asserted herself throughout the match, winning four of the first five games and dropping just two games in the first set. In the second set, Capra took the first four games before surrendering her lone game to Vidal. Capra improves to 12-8 on the year with the victory.

With the match clinched, the contests on courts two and six remained unfinished. Goldfeld, the 39th-ranked singles player in the nation, sat one game away from clinching her match over Bernard-Feigenbaum. Goldfeld led, 6-1, 0-6, 5-2. On court six, Mulholland was within a game of forcing a third set in her match against Deobrah Suarez, with the competition sitting at 1-6, 5-3.

The Blue Devils resume action tomorrow afternoon at 1 p.m., in NCAA Second Round action, with live results and stats available here.

“We can take advantage of the fact that we were the first match of the day," Ashworth said. "We can get off our feet, rehydrate and get ready to lay it all on the line tomorrow. There's no tomorrow without today. There's no reason to go out on the court and save anything during tomorrow's match.”

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