Blue Devils Take Both in Saturday Doubleheader

Saturday, February 27

Durham, N.C.

10:00 AM

Duke University

Coastal Carolina

Blue Devils Take Both in Saturday Doubleheader

2/27/2016 6:51:00 PM | Men's Tennis

By: Duke Sports Information

DURHAM, N.C. – In its final tune-up before the ACC season, the No. 54 Duke men's tennis team swept its second straight Saturday doubleheader and extended its winning streak to four matches by downing Coastal Carolina 4-0 in the morning and topping Furman 6-1 in the afternoon. Both matches were held at the Sheffield Indoor Tennis Center due to wind and cool temperatures.

With the two wins, head coach Ramsey Smith upped his career victory total to 158, just one behind Steve Strome (1983-90/159) for third on the program's all-time wins list. The Blue Devils evened their overall record at 6-6 heading to the league portion of the campaign.

“It feels good,” Smith said. “We've made a lot of progress as a team since the Vanderbilt match and won four in a row, only losing one point. I'm really happy with the progress. I think that should give us some momentum going into the ACC season.”

Freshman Ryan Dickerson earned his first career match-clinching point in the opener against Coastal Carolina while junior TJ Pura captured Duke's fourth point in the second contest for his first deciding tally of the campaign. The Blue Devils have had four players clinch matches this season.

“It was incredible to be out there,” Pura said. “I hadn't gotten any wins in singles this year. It has been a rocky road. Coming back from injury and getting a win for the team and myself – there's nothing better than that. The momentum has been growing. We've been growing as a team on and off the court. We definitely feel like we're picking up steam.”

In the match against Coastal Carolina (6-2), Duke took the early lead for the fourth consecutive time by capturing a close doubles point. The first win came on court three, where senior Daniel McCall and freshman Jason Lapidus topped Luiz Faria and Rick Timmerman, 6-4. With the pairs on serve and tied 2-2, the Blue Devils got a break and then held to push ahead for the remainder of the match. Coastal got within a game at 4-3 and 5-4 but could not force a tie.

The Chanticleers answered with a 6-4 win on court one by Pedro Leme and Vuk Velickovic against sophomore Nicolas Alvarez and Dickerson. Duke jumped out to a 3-0 lead before Coastal came storming back for six wins in the final seven games.

The Blue Devils secured the point on court two by freshmen Vincent Lin and Catalin Mateas, who defeated Sebastian Schneider and Jabor Al-Mutawa 7-6 (6). Duke led 2-0 before the Chanticleers tied it at 2-2. Duke broke and held to go up 4-2 and led 5-3 before three straight Coastal wins had the Blue Devils behind 6-5. Lin held to force the tiebreaker. The Blue Devils hopped out to 3-0 and 4-1 leads in the tiebreaker before the Chanticleers knotted it at 4-4. Neither side led by more than a point until Duke snapped a 6-6 tie with consecutive points to end the match.

After winning the tight doubles point, Duke gave itself some breathing room in singles, winning the first three matches in straight sets. The Blue Devils' second point of the day came on court two, where Mateas defeated Velickovic, 6-1, 6-2.

Duke made it a 3-0 advantage with Lin capturing a 6-2, 6-1 decision against Leme on court three. Lin led 3-0 in the opening set before the advantage was trimmed to 3-2. He won the final three games of the opening set and first three of the second set to coast to the victory.

Earning his first match-clinching point for the Blue Devils was Dickerson on court five, where he downed Timmerman 6-1, 6-1. Dickerson was tied at 1-1 in both sets before winning five consecutive games.

With the match being played to clinch, the other three matches were halted. Duke led on all three courts with No. 15 Alvarez up 6-1, 5-2 on court one against Al-Mutawa, Pura leading Schneider 6-4, 5-2 on court four and McCall ahead of Francesco Migliano 6-1, 4-3 on court six.

During the afternoon match against Furman, the Blue Devils' winning streak in doubles was snapped at four as the Paladins won on courts one and three. Furman tallied its first victory on court one, where Matt Browne and Ben Horst recorded a 6-3 victory against Alvarez and Dickerson. Duke led 2-0 before the match was even at 3-3. The Paladins then took the next three games to win the match. Alvarez and Dickerson are now 3-2 this season, all in dual matches.

On court two, Mateas and Lin mounted and improbable comeback to defeat Cameron Green and Alex Steryous, 7-5. Mateas and Lin trailed 4-0 before ripping off four straight games for a 4-4 set. The two teams were even at 5-5, but a Duke break put the Blue Devils in the lead for good. Mateas and Lin improve to 5-2 overall and 4-0 in dual matches, all in the No. 2 position.

Furman (3-6) won the doubles point on court three as Josh Pistorius and Adam Steryous held off McCall and Lapidus, 7-6 (2). The Blue Devil pair fell behind 2-0 and won two straight to tie it at 2-2. Furman answered with consecutive wins to go up 4-2. McCall and Lapidus cut the deficit to 4-3 and were behind 5-4 with Furman serving for the match. Duke tallied a break to extend the match and it headed to the tiebreaker. The Blue Devils took a 2-1 lead in the tiebreaker, but then dropped six consecutive points. The loss was the first for McCall and Lapidus, who are now 4-1, all in dual matches at No. 3.

The Blue Devils quickly bounced back in singles with four victories within five minutes of each other to clinch the match. It was the first time this season Duke has lost the doubles point and won the overall match.

The point avalanche began on court three as Lin topped Green 6-4, 6-3. In the opening set, the two were tied at points one through four before Lin held in his game to inch ahead 5-4. He broke Green in the final game to win the set. Lin improves to 15-11 overall and 7-5 in dual matches. Lin's 15 victories are the most on the squad.

Dickerson's second victory of the day on court five gave Duke its first lead at 2-1 overall. Dickerson downed Pistorius, 6-3, 6-0. In the opening set, Dickerson turned a 2-2 tie into a 4-2 lead with a break and hold. Pistorius won his service game to cut the deficit to 4-3, but Dickerson won the final eight games to end the match. Dickerson is now 8-6 overall and 6-1 in dual matches. The rookie owns a team high five-match winning streak.

“Ryan is getting there,” Smith said. “I thought he did a better job committing to playing aggressive in his second match, especially in the second half of his second match. He really got into the flow of how we want him to play there.”

Duke got on the verge of clinching with a 6-3, 6-2 win from Mateas on court two against Browne. Mateas jumped ahead 3-1 in the first set and never looked back as Browne was no closer than two games the rest of the way. In the second set, the two were even at 1-1 before Mateas took a commanding 5-1 lead and held on for the win. Mateas ups his overall mark to 9-3, all in dual matches. Mateas also improves to 5-2 in the No. 2 position.

“Catalin is playing in the No. 2 spot and that's a tough spot,” Smith said. “He's coming forward well and playing aggressively. He is definitely improving. We've worked really hard these past couple of weeks during individual and team practices. He's starting to get in the flow of this level. To be able to win that quickly at the No. 2 spot as a freshman is very impressive. He doesn't seem to be scared of the moment, but has risen to the occasion.”

Pura tallied the clinching point with a 7-5, 6-2 win on court four against Horst. The two played an extremely close opening set, tied at every point up to five. From there, Pura broke and held to end the set. In the second set, the two were even at 2-2 before Pura tallied four straight wins to determine the match. The win is Pura's first in dual matches as he is now 1-6 and 7-9 overall.

“It's good to have TJ back and getting that clinching point,” Smith added. “I'm really happy for him. He had a high ankle sprain, which is never easy to recover from. Early in the season he had a lot of tough, close, losses against tough opponents. It was good to see him get the win and clinch and get back healthy. He just exudes positive energy. Guys tend to feed off of that. He brings that life to the team. It's definitely better when he's out there.”

Giving Duke a 5-1 lead was No. 15 Alvarez with his 6-3, 6-3 win against Adam Steryous on court one. Alvarez trailed 2-0 in the opening set before evening the match at 2-2. With the set even at 3-3, Alvarez went on a three-game winning streak with a pair of breaks. The second set had Alvarez fall behind 3-2 after a 2-2 tie. Alvarez quickly turned it around with four consecutive games to end the match. Alvarez lifts his record to 10-9 and 6-5 in dual matches.

Finishing out the Duke singles sweep was McCall on court six with a 6-7 (4), 6-3, 1-0 (7) victory against Alex Steryous. McCall jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the opening set, but was then even at 5-5. McCall rebounded with a break to go up 6-5, but Steryous broke back and sent the set into a tiebreaker. The two were even at points one through three before Steryous went ahead 6-3. McCall made it a 6-4 deficit, but Steryous tallied the final point. McCall took a 4-1 lead in the second set and held the advantage. With the overall match determined, the two played a first-to-10 super tiebreaker for a third set. McCall cruised to 5-0, 6-1 and 8-3 leads before Steryous made it interesting, cutting the McCall lead to 9-7. McCall then won the match as Steryous' return went into the net. McCall is now 6-8 overall and 3-1 in dual matches.

Duke will now turn to the ACC portion of the campaign, hosting No. 57 Georgia Tech at 12 noon on Sunday, March 6.

#54 Duke 4, Coastal Carolina 0
Feb. 27, 2016 at Durham, N.C. (Sheffield Indoor Tennis Center)

Doubles competition
1. Vuk Velickovic/Pedro Leme (CC) def. Nicolas Alvarez/Ryan Dickerson (DU) 6-4
2. Vincent Lin/Catalin Mateas (DU) def. Sebastian Schneider/Jabor Al-Mutawa (CC) 7-6 (6)
3. Jason Lapidus/Daniel McCall (DU) def. Luiz Faria/Rick Timmerman (CC) 6-4

Singles competition
1. #17 Nicolas Alvarez (DU) led Jabor Al-Mutawa (CC) 6-1, 5-2
2. #91 Catalin Mateas (DU) def. Vuk Velickovic (CC) 6-1, 6-2
3. Vincent Lin (DU) def. Pedro Leme (CC) 6-2, 6-1
4. TJ Pura (DU) led Sebastian Schneider (CC) 6-4, 5-2
5. Ryan Dickerson (DU) def. Rick Timmerman (CC) 6-1, 6-1
6. Daniel McCall (DU) led Francesco Migliano (CC) 6-1, 4-3

Match Notes:
Coastal Carolina 6-2
Duke 5-6; National ranking #54
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (2,3,5)
Official: Diane Spangler
T-2:02 A-72

#54 Duke 6, Furman 1
Feb. 27, 2016 at Durham, N.C. (Sheffield Indoor Tennis Center)

Doubles competition
1. Matt Browne/Ben Horst (FUR) def. Nicolas Alvarez/Ryan Dickerson (DU) 6-3
2. Catalin Mateas/Vincent Lin (DU) def. Cameron Green/Alex Steryous (FUR) 7-5
3. Josh Pistorius/Adam Steryous (FUR) def. Daniel McCall/Jason Lapidus (DU) 7-6 (7-2)

Singles competition
1. #15 Nicolas Alvarez (DU) def. Adam Steryous (FUR) 6-3, 6-3
2. Catalin Mateas (DU) def. Matt Browne (FUR) 6-3, 6-2
3. Vincent Lin (DU) def. Cameron Green (FUR) 6-4, 6-3
4. TJ Pura (DU) def. Ben Horst (FUR) 7-5, 6-2
5. Ryan Dickerson (DU) def. Josh Pistorius (FUR) 6-3, 6-0
6. Daniel McCall (DU) def. Alex Steryous (FUR) 6-7 (4-7), 6-3, 1-0 (10-7)

Match Notes:
Furman 3-6
Duke 6-6; National ranking #54
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2,3); Singles (3,5,2,4,1,6)
Official: Rod Realon
T-2:23 A-134

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