Duke Sweeps Sunday Doubleheader to Even Record

Sunday, March 27

Durham, N.C.

12:00 PM

Duke University

Louisville

Duke Sweeps Sunday Doubleheader to Even Record

3/27/2016 8:27:00 PM | Men's Tennis

By: Duke Sports Information

DURHAM, N.C. – The Duke men's tennis team ended the weekend with its third doubleheader sweep in as many opportunities this year, defeating Louisville 5-2 and N.C. Central 6-1 at the Sheffield Indoor Tennis Center on Sunday. The Blue Devils received both match-clinching victories from freshman Ryan Dickerson.

The clinchers were the second and third of Dickerson's career he also ended the match against Coastal Carolina on February 27. The two Sunday wins evened Duke's overall record at 10-10 with the Blue Devils 3-4 in the ACC.

“It was nice to get the doubles point against Louisville,” head coach Ramsey Smith said. “The goal was then to start singles with the same intensity. I thought we did that. Louisville made the desperation surge in the second sets and there was a big swing in momentum. Things were looking a little dicey, but we were able to finish strong.”

In the opening match against Louisville, the Blue Devils won the doubles point for just the second time in league play, capturing matches on courts two and three. On court two, senior Daniel McCall and freshman Jason Lapidus cruised to a 6-0 victory versus Christopher Morin-Kougoucheff and George Hedley.

“Two was tremendous,” Smith said. “Those guys played unbelievable. To win 6-0 in the ACC, at any number, is awesome. That was against two of their best players, Louisville's No. 1 and No. 3 players. That really set the tone. They played their best match of the year.”

Duke won the point on court three, where sophomore Nicolas Alvarez and junior TJ Pura downed Sean Donohue and Courtney Lock 6-3. Duke jumped out to a 3-0 advantage with the help of a break. The Blue Devils got up 4-1. Louisville closed the gap to 5-3 and had a deciding point, but the return off Alvarez's serve went into the net to end the match in favor of Duke.

On court one, Louisville's Alex Gornet and Jeffrey Brown led freshmen Catalin Mateas and Vincent Lin 5-4 when the match was halted.

In singles, the Blue Devils' Alvarez made it a 2-0 advantage with a 6-4, 6-2 victory against Morin-Kougoucheff on court one. No. 19 Alvarez led 4-0 before Morin-Kougoucheff closed the gap with four wins in the next five games to make it a 5-4 Alvarez advantage. Alvarez served out for the win in the last game. The second set had Alvarez lead 5-1 before closing out the set.

It was a 3-0 Duke lead after a 6-3, 1-6, 6-3 victory by Lin against Hedley on court three. Lin blazed through the first set after a 2-2 tie by winning four of the next five games. Hedley responded in the second set with six consecutive victories after dropping the opening game. The third set had Hedley lead 3-0 before Lin rallied with six straight wins to end the match.

“[Associate head coach Jonathan] Stokke was really a big part of that [comeback],” Lin said. “He helped me battle through the frustration of the second set. At the moment when I went down 3-0 in the third set, I turned the switch on the energy. I focused on being energetic, battling back and not getting too frustrated.”

The Blue Devils clinched the match with Dickerson on court six as he topped Carlos Longhi Neto 6-3, 6-3. The opening set had Dickerson trail 2-0 before ripping off five straight games and closing out the action. Dickerson kept the momentum going in the second set, leading 4-1 and not looking back.

Louisville got its first point to make it a 4-1 Duke lead on court five, where Donohue came back for a 2-6, 6-1, 6-1 victory against senior Josh Levine. Levine took a 3-0 advantage in the first set and pushed it to 5-1 before closing the action. Donohue snapped 1-1 tie with a 6-1 win in the second set and blew through the third set.

With the overall match already determined, the remaining two matches went into third sets, which were played as first-to-10 tiebreakers. On court two, Mateas tallied Duke's fifth point with a 4-6, 6-3, 1-0 (5) victory against Gornet. Mateas led 2-1 and broke in the first set to take a 3-1 lead. He pushed it to a 4-1 advantage before Gornet won the final five games. The second set had Mateas turn a 2-2 tie into a 5-2 lead and close out the set. In the tiebreaker of a third set, Mateas ran out to 4-0 and 7-1 advantages. Gornet cut the deficit to 7-4, but Mateas ended it with three of the final four points.

The Cardinals registered their last point on court four with a 5-7, 7-6 (3), 1-0 (8) win by Brown against Pura. Pura took a 2-0 lead in the opening set, but Brown evened it at 2-2. After a 3-3 tie, Brown won two straight, but Pura rallied to take the final four and win the set. The second set had Pura trail 3-1 and 4-2 before evening it at 4-4. The two were tied at 5-5 and 6-6 and headed to the tiebreaker, where Brown turned a 2-2 tie into a 4-2 advantage. Pura got it to 4-3, but Brown won the final three points. The tiebreaker had Pura fall behind 3-1 and 5-2, but win the next three to force a 5-5 tie. With a 6-6 tie, Brown won three straight to go up 9-6. Pura fought back to trail just 9-8, but Brown won the final point for the win.

In the day's second match against N.C. Central, the Eagles' roster had five players, so there were two doubles and five singles matches played.

Duke won both doubles matches, beginning with Lin and Mateas defeating Kert Kilumets and Thomas Persico 6-2 on court two. The Blue Devils led 2-1 and followed with a break and hold to take a 4-1 lead. The Eagles got a game back but Duke won the last two to take the match. Lin and Mateas improve to 7-4 overall and 5-1 on court two.

The Blue Devils finished the point on court one with McCall and Lapidus' second win of the day, a tight 7-6 (5) victory versus Davide Callegari and Gabriel Cucalon. The two sides were even at all six points and headed to the tiebreaker, where Duke led 2-0 and pushed the advantage to 4-1 before NCCU closed the gap to 4-3. The Blue Devils went up 5-3, but the Eagles rallied again and evened the tiebreaker at 5-5. From there, Duke won the final two points. McCall and Lapidus are now 7-5 overall and 1-0 on court one.

Duke made it a 2-0 advantage with a forfeit on court six. The Blue Devils added their third point on court five, where sophomore Andrew DeJoy breezed past Dillon Strepay, 6-0, 6-0. DeJoy picked up his second victory of the campaign, both in dual matches.

Duke clinched the match on court four as Dickerson topped Persico 6-1, 6-0. After a 1-1 tie in the opening set, Dickerson ran off 11 straight games for the victory. Dickerson is now 12-8 overall and 10-3 in dual action.

No. 19 Alvarez tallied his second victory of the day on court one and gave Duke a 5-0 lead with a 6-3, 6-0 win against Kilumets. Alvarez led 3-0 and pushed it to 5-2. Kilumets got a game back, but Alvarez won the final seven of the match to end the contest. Alvarez is now 13-13 overall and 9-9 in dual matches.

Duke took a 6-0 advantage with Mateas' 6-4, 6-2 victory on court two versus Cucalon. In the opening set, Mateas got ahead 2-0 with an early break and led 3-1. Cucalon had it down to one game three times, but could not break Mateas, who held on for the win. The second set had a 4-0 lead for Mateas as he cruised. Mateas' two Sunday wins lift his record to 13-7, all in dual matches.

The evening's final point was on court three, where Callegari downed freshman Adrian Chamdani 6-3, 5-7, 1-0 (1). With the first set tied 3-3, Callegari won the last three games. In the second set, Chamdani led 3-1 before Callegari evened the action at 3-3. The two were tied at 4-4 and 5-5 before Chamdani broke and held to capture the set. With the overall match determined, the two played a first-to-10 tiebreaker for a third set. In the tiebreaker, Callegari turned a 1-1 tie into the victory. Chamdani moves to 11-12 and 4-5 in dual matches.

The Blue Devils return to action at 4:30 p.m. Friday at N.C. State. Duke ends the upcoming weekend with a 3 p.m. Sunday, April 3, home contest versus Virginia.

Duke 5, Louisville 2
March 27, 2016 at Durham, N.C. (Sheffield Indoor Tennis Center)

Doubles competition
1. Catalin Mateas/Vincent Lin (DU) vs. Alex Gornet/Jeffrey Brown (LOU) 4-5, unfinished
2. Daniel McCall/Jason Lapidus (DU) def. C. Morin-Kougoucheff/George Hedley (LOU) 6-0
3. Nicolas Alvarez/TJ Pura (DU) def. Sean Donohue/Courtney Lock (LOU) 6-3

Singles competition
1. #19 Nicolas Alvarez (DU) def. C. Morin-Kougoucheff (LOU) 6-4, 6-2
2. Catalin Mateas (DU) def. Alex Gornet (LOU) 4-6, 6-3, 1-0 (10-5)
3. Vincent Lin (DU) def. George Hedley (LOU) 6-3, 1-6, 6-3
4. Jeffrey Brown (LOU) def. TJ Pura (DU) 5-7, 7-6 (7-3), 1-0 (10-8)
5. Sean Donohue (LOU) def. Josh Levine (DU) 2-6, 6-1, 6-1
6. Ryan Dickerson (DU) def. Carlos Longhi Neto (LOU) 6-3, 6-3

Match Notes:
Louisville 11-12, 0-7 ACC
Duke 9-10, 3-4 ACC
Order of finish: Doubles (2,3); Singles (1,3,6,5,2,4)
Official: Bruce Harrison
T-2:32 A-176

Duke 6, N.C. Central 1
March 27, 2016 at Durham, N.C. (Sheffield Indoor Tennis Center)

Doubles competition
1. Jason Lapidus/Daniel McCall (DU) def. Davide Callegari/Gabriel Cucalon (NCCU) 7-6 (7-5)
2. Catalin Mateas/Vincent Lin (DU) def. Kert Kilumets/Thomas Persico (NCCU) 6-2
3. Nicolas Alvarez/Adrian Chamdani (DU) def. Dillon Strepay/No player (NCCU), by forfeit

Singles competition
1. #19 Nicolas Alvarez (DU) def. Kert Kilumets (NCCU) 6-3, 6-0
2. Catalin Mateas (DU) def. Gabriel Cucalon (NCCU) 6-4, 6-2
3. Davide Callegari (NCCU) def. Adrian Chamdani (DU) 6-3, 5-7, 1-0 (10-1)
4. Ryan Dickerson (DU) def. Thomas Persico (NCCU) 6-1, 6-0
5. Andrew DeJoy (DU) def. Dillon Strepay (NCCU) 6-0, 6-0
6. Jason Lapidus (DU) def. No player (NCCU), by forfeit