Lazic, McCarthy Open 2018 Fall Slate Friday

DURHAM, N.C. – Senior Kaitlyn McCarthy and sophomore Ema Lazic are set to kick off the 2018 Duke women's tennis fall slate this weekend, traveling to Greenville, S.C., for the Debbie Southern Furman Fall Classic. The three-day tournament runs from Friday to Sunday on Furman's campus and includes student-athletes from 12 teams, with six of those ranked in the top 25 of the final 2018 Intercollegiate Tennis Association's (ITA) national rankings.

“This is a tournament we've never really played in before but there's a lot of good competition for Kaitlyn and Ema,” head coach Jamie Ashworth said. “Kaitlyn hasn't put herself in pressure situations and in match play since the NCAA Tournament so it's important to get out there and start competing. Ema played some events this summer but didn't get a lot of match play during the spring. The more matches she can get, the better in the long-run. It's exciting for both of them to start the season this weekend and we're looking forward to having a good weekend with good results while also learning a lot about ourselves and what we need to do moving forward.”

The Blue Devils, who concluded last season ranked third by the ITA, will face student-athletes from host Furman, Clemson, Florida State (No. 17), Georgia Tech (No. 4), Mississippi State, North Carolina (No. 2), Ohio State, South Carolina (No. 10), Texas, Vanderbilt (No. 1) and Wake Forest. Vanderbilt played to the championship match at the NCAA Tournament while Georgia Tech joined Duke in the Final Four.

Doubles play will begin at 9 a.m., on Friday followed by singles action at 1 p.m. Play will continue on Saturday and Sunday, beginning at 9 a.m., both days.

McCarthy concluded last season as an ITA Scholar-Athlete and ITA All-America selection after posting an 11-2 overall record during ACC singles play and enters the fall ranked No. 84 in the ITA preseason rankings. Lazic played to a 4-5 singles mark and recorded a 4-4 ledger in doubles. The two will team up in doubles action this weekend in Greenville.

McCarthy and Lazic will compete in doubles Friday at 9 a.m., against Tijana Spasojeciv/Fernanda Labrana of Texas before taking the courts as individuals at 11:30 a.m. McCarthy will take on Bojana Markovic of Texas while Lazic will face Danielle Wolf of Oklahoma State.

#GoDuke