No. 8 Duke Storms Past No. 55 Boston College, 6-1

Saturday, April 9

Durham, N.C.

12:00 PM

Duke University

Boston College

Duke Continues Winning Ways During ITA Regionals

No. 8 Duke Storms Past No. 55 Boston College, 6-1

4/9/2016 3:40:00 PM | Women's Tennis

Box Score: Duke 6, Boston College 1

By: Duke Sports Information

DURHAM, N.C. – Strong play in both doubles and singles for the eight-ranked Duke women's tennis team helped the Blue Devils bypass 55th-ranked Boston College, 6-1, Saturday afternoon in the Sheffield Indoor Tennis Center in Durham, N.C. The victory improved Duke's record to 16-4 on the season and 9-2 against ACC opponents, while Boston College fell to 8-11 overall and 3-9 in the conference.

“Our emotional level was huge,” head coach Jamie Ashworth said. “That's what we talked about. We had to be more of a team in the true sense of the word. Tennis is an individual sport, but we couldn't just go out there as individuals and play today. We had to put the Michigan match behind us and learn from it, but we had to be a true team when we walked on the court today. You could hear people supporting each other. We have to create a good atmosphere among ourselves on the court when we play. I thought we did a good job with that, starting with the doubles.”

For the 15th time during the 2016 campaign, and the fourth straight match, Duke clinched the doubles point, picking up wins on courts one and three to earn the early 1-0 advantage. The Blue Devils improved to 14-1 this year when taking the doubles point.

The Duke tandem of juniors Chalena Scholl and Alyssa Smith helped the Blue Devils earn the doubles point by defeating Boston College's Heini Salonen and Asiya Dair on court three, 6-2. Smith and Scholl established themselves early, taking a 4-0 lead that set the tone for the remainder of the match. Salonen and Dair would claim two of the next three games, cutting Scholl and Smith's lead to 5-2, before a timely break for the Blue Devils closed out the contest. With the victory, Scholl and Smith improved to 14-6 on the season and 7-3 against ACC opponents.

The doubles point was decided on court one, as the 19th-ranked tandem of senior Beatrice Capra and freshman Ellyse Hamlin defeated the 88th-ranked duo of Lexi Borr and Jackie Urbinati of Boston College, 6-2. Similar to action on court three, Capra and Hamlin took a 3-0 lead to establish themselves in the match. Although the Boston College pair would win two of the next three games, bringing the score to 4-2, a hold and a break by the Blue Devils successfully closed out the contest and earned the duo its team-best 16th doubles win of the season.

With the doubles point decided, the match on court two between Duke's 72nd-ranked pair of sophomore Samantha Harris and freshman Kaitlyn McCarthy and Boston College's Katya Vasilyev and Emily Safron remained unfinished, with the score knotted at 4-4.

The impressive doubles play from Duke carried onto the singles courts, as the Blue Devils won five of the six matches, with all five wins coming in straight sets.

On court two, McCarthy, the 43rd-ranked singles player in the country, picked up a 6-0, 6-2 win over 89th-ranked Borr, giving Duke a 2-0 lead. McCarthy's momentum from not dropping a game in the first set continued in the second set, where the Cary, N.C., native took a commanding 5-0 lead. Although Borr won back-to-back games, McCarthy broke the serve of Borr to earn her team-best 24th singles win of the season.

“A lot of things were working well for me,” McCarthy said. “I feel like that's the best I've played in a while, so that was really exciting since we're getting to the end of the year. It's a good confidence boost. I felt like I was able to take advantage of first opportunity, and that really helped me execute points more quickly. I was efficient with how I played today.”

Harris quickly followed McCarthy's suit, earning a 6-1, 6-2, win over Boston College's Vasilyev on court three. In the first set, Harris and Vasilyev traded games, but after a hold and a break for Harris, the Melbourne, Australia, native caught her rhythm and won the remaining three games necessary to win the set. Harris opened the second set by winning two straight games. After Vasilyev cut into Harris' lead with a hold, Harris once again settled in and won three consecutive games to gain a convincing 5-1 advantage. The two competitors would exchange games, with Harris successfully serving out the match. In addition to earning her ninth ACC win of the year, bringing her career number of conference victories to 19, Harris also extended her current win streak to seven matches.

The match was decided on court four, as Hamlin, the 116th-ranked singles player in the country, downed Safron on court four, 6-3, 6-3. Both Hamlin and Safron proved evenly matched, as the score stood tied at 1-1, 2-2 and 3-3, in the first set, before a three-game run by Hamlin provided her with a first-set win. With the score tied at 3-3 in the second set, Hamlin broke Safron's serve, held serve and then once again broke serve to claim the win and hand the Fairfield, Conn., native her 12th win of the season.

Although the team match was decided, action on courts one, five and six was played out. On court six, redshirt freshman Christina Makarova earned her eighth win of the season after defeating Salonen, 6-1, 6-4, while Ho defeated Urbinati, 6-4, 6-2, on court five to register her 15th victory of the year. Scholl, the 67th-ranked singles player in the country, dropped her match against 80th-ranked Dair, 6-2, 7-5, on court one.

Duke concludes its 2016 regular-season home slate Tuesday, April 12, welcoming NC State to Durham for a 3 p.m. contest. The match will serve as Duke's senior day for the team's lone senior, Capra.

#GoDuke

#8 Duke 6, #55 Boston College 1

Singles competition
1. #80 Asiya Dair (BC) def. #67 Chalena Scholl (DU) 6-2, 7-5
2. #43 Kaitlyn McCarthy (DU) def. #89 Lexi Borr (BC) 6-0, 6-2
3. Samantha Harris (DU) def. Katya Vasilyev (BC) 6-1, 6-2
4. #116 Ellyse Hamlin (DU) def. Emily Safron (BC) 6-3, 6-3
5. Jessica Ho (DU) def. Jackie Urbinati (BC) 6-4, 6-2
6. Christina Makarova (DU) def. Heini Salonen (BC) 6-1, 6-4

Doubles competition
1. #19 Beatrice Capra/Ellyse Hamlin (DU) def. #88 Lexi Borr/Jackie Urbinati (BC) 6-2
2. #72 Samantha Harris/Kaitlyn McCarthy (DU) vs. Katya Vasilyev/Emily Safron (BC) 4-4, unfinished
3. Chalena Scholl/Alyssa Smith (DU) def. Heini Salonen/Asiya Dair (BC) 6-2

Match Notes:
Boston College 8-11, 3-9; National ranking #55
Duke 16-4, 9-2; National ranking #8
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1); Singles (2,3,4,6,5,1)
T-2:20 A-135