DURHAM, N.C. – In the battle of the Devils, the No. 5 Duke Blue Devils emerged the victors as they held off Arizona State in the second round of the NCAA Tournament in Durham, North Carolina.
Much like yesterday's 4-0 win over Illinois, Sunday's 4-0 scoreline doesn't tell the whole story as ASU had the fifth-ranked squad in the nation down on several courts before the hosts ultimately advanced to the Sweet Sixteen.
"It was a good match," coach Sheila McInerney said. "Duke is a very good team and we played them pretty well on all of the courts. They came out and were very aggressive in doubles which gave them some momentum going into singles, but our kids battled back and made the sets competitive."
The Blue Devils grabbed the early edge on the Sun Devils when they won the doubles point by scoring wins on courts one and three.
After the doubles point was decided, play was suspended as rain passed over the Ambler Tennis Stadium and sent the teams indoors to finish the match.
"We haven't played a lot of indoor matches this year, but I think we transitioned quite well indoors," McInerney said. "We've got a big-hitting team and I thought we battled well. I don't think playing inside really affected the outcome because we still played well."
Once indoors, the Sun Devils got on a roll on courts one through three as Ilze Hattingh, Lauryn John-Baptiste and Tereza Kolarova all jumped out to leads on ranked opponents.
Hattingh had the highest-ranked opponent on court one as she took on No. 11 Maria Mateas. Hattingh, ranked No. 106, dominated the top Blue Devil in the first set to win 6-1.
No. 114 John-Baptiste also cruised to a first set win as she handled No. 33 Meible Chi 6-4 to grab an early advantage, and Kolarova fought through a tiebreak to take the first set on three over No. 21 Kelly Chen.
The Sun Devils didn't fare as well on the other three courts, though, as Duke took the first sets on four through six, then got off of court five with a win to push the lead to 2-0.
The Blue Devils then made it 3-0 when they got a win on court four.
On court six, freshman Samantha Alicea refused to go away even after losing the first set. She battled back against her Duke opponent to force a tiebreak in the second, but came up just short of forcing a third set, falling 8-6.
"Duke played well when they needed to, so give credit to them," McInerney said. "They were semifinalists last year, they're No. 5 in the country this year and they've earned that.
"For us, this is a match that hopefully we learn from," McInerney said. "Seeing the way we played and how I think we can play next year, this is a match that that I think we can win next season."
ASU finishes the season 14-11 with a 5-5 Pac-12 record and a 32nd-straight NCAA Tournament appearance, the fifth-longest active streak in the nation.
"You always want to play your best tennis at the end of the season and I think we did that this weekend," McInerney said. "We played a really good Illinois team very well yesterday, and today we played a good match against a great Duke team."
The defeat on Sunday concludes the Sun Devil women's tennis team's 2019 campaign, but the college tennis season continues for NCAA Doubles Championship qualifiers Lauryn John-Baptiste and Ilze Hattingh. The two All-Americans earned the No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament that starts later this month in Orlando, Florida.
Much like yesterday's 4-0 win over Illinois, Sunday's 4-0 scoreline doesn't tell the whole story as ASU had the fifth-ranked squad in the nation down on several courts before the hosts ultimately advanced to the Sweet Sixteen.
"It was a good match," coach Sheila McInerney said. "Duke is a very good team and we played them pretty well on all of the courts. They came out and were very aggressive in doubles which gave them some momentum going into singles, but our kids battled back and made the sets competitive."
The Blue Devils grabbed the early edge on the Sun Devils when they won the doubles point by scoring wins on courts one and three.
After the doubles point was decided, play was suspended as rain passed over the Ambler Tennis Stadium and sent the teams indoors to finish the match.
"We haven't played a lot of indoor matches this year, but I think we transitioned quite well indoors," McInerney said. "We've got a big-hitting team and I thought we battled well. I don't think playing inside really affected the outcome because we still played well."
Once indoors, the Sun Devils got on a roll on courts one through three as Ilze Hattingh, Lauryn John-Baptiste and Tereza Kolarova all jumped out to leads on ranked opponents.
Hattingh had the highest-ranked opponent on court one as she took on No. 11 Maria Mateas. Hattingh, ranked No. 106, dominated the top Blue Devil in the first set to win 6-1.
No. 114 John-Baptiste also cruised to a first set win as she handled No. 33 Meible Chi 6-4 to grab an early advantage, and Kolarova fought through a tiebreak to take the first set on three over No. 21 Kelly Chen.
The Sun Devils didn't fare as well on the other three courts, though, as Duke took the first sets on four through six, then got off of court five with a win to push the lead to 2-0.
The Blue Devils then made it 3-0 when they got a win on court four.
On court six, freshman Samantha Alicea refused to go away even after losing the first set. She battled back against her Duke opponent to force a tiebreak in the second, but came up just short of forcing a third set, falling 8-6.
"Duke played well when they needed to, so give credit to them," McInerney said. "They were semifinalists last year, they're No. 5 in the country this year and they've earned that.
"For us, this is a match that hopefully we learn from," McInerney said. "Seeing the way we played and how I think we can play next year, this is a match that that I think we can win next season."
ASU finishes the season 14-11 with a 5-5 Pac-12 record and a 32nd-straight NCAA Tournament appearance, the fifth-longest active streak in the nation.
"You always want to play your best tennis at the end of the season and I think we did that this weekend," McInerney said. "We played a really good Illinois team very well yesterday, and today we played a good match against a great Duke team."
The defeat on Sunday concludes the Sun Devil women's tennis team's 2019 campaign, but the college tennis season continues for NCAA Doubles Championship qualifiers Lauryn John-Baptiste and Ilze Hattingh. The two All-Americans earned the No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament that starts later this month in Orlando, Florida.