Wake Forest University
Duke
Wake Forest Suffers 6-1 Setback Against Duke
3/26/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
By Wake Forest Athletic Communications (@WakeWTennis)
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- The 14th-ranked Wake Forest women's tennis team started strong in singles, but was unable to recover after dropping the doubles competition to No. 10 Duke in a 6-1 loss on Saturday afternoon at the Wake Forest Tennis Complex.
The loss was just the second for the Demon Deacons in 12 home matches this season. Their 2016 record dropped to 16-5 with a 5-4 ACC mark. The Blue Devils improved to 13-2 with a 6-1 conference ledger.
After Samantha Harris and Kaitlyn McCarthy gave the visitors a fast start in doubles with a 6-0 win at the No. 2 spot, Kimmy Guerin and Anna Ulyashchenko kept the Deacons alive with a 6-3 upset win over No. 14-ranked Beatrice Capra and Ellyse Hamlin. The Blue Devils clinched the first point of the match, however, with a 6-4 victory at No. 3.
The win for Guerin and Ulyashchenko was the duo's second over a top-25 pairing in seven days after they defeated No. 25 Danielle Collins and Meghan Kelley in a 4-3 win over Virginia last Sunday. The tandem is 10-7 at the top position on the season.
The Deacs took the first set on four of the six singles courts, but were only able to convert one of those matches into a win.
Duke increased its lead to 2-0 with a straight-set win at No. 4 before Luisa Fernandez halved Wake Forest's deficit by taking down the 78th-ranked Hamlin, 7-5, 6-4, at No. 5. Fernandez trailed, 4-2, in the second set before reeling off four game wins in a row to come out on top.
The ranked triumph for Fernandez was her first since she defeated No. 59 Rachel Pierson of Virginia during April of 2014 in her freshman season.
The Blue Devils clinched the match with three-set wins at Nos. 2 and 3 by No. 92-ranked Chalena Scholl and No. 35 McCarthy, respectively. A 5-7, 6-1, 6-1 victory at the top position by No. 28 Capra made it 5-1 before Christina Makarova capped the scoring at 6-1 by edging Xue Zhang in a 13-11 match tiebreaker.
Wake Forest will finish out its regular-season schedule in April with five conference matches. Next week, the Deacons travel to Syracuse and Boston College before closing out their home schedule against Miami on April 8 and Florida State on April 10. The Deacs' regular season will end on April 15 with a trip to NC State.
No. 10 Duke 6, No. 14 Wake Forest 1
Singles competition
1. No. 28 Beatrice Capra (DU) def. No. 84 Kimmy Guerin (WF) 5-7, 6-1, 6-1
2. No. 92 Chalena Scholl (DU) def. No. 112 Emma Davis (WF) 4-6, 6-4, 6-0
3. No. 35 Kaitlyn McCarthy (DU) def. Anna Ulyashchenko (WF) 7-5, 2-6, 6-3
4. Samantha Harris (DU) def. Samantha Asch (WF) 6-4, 6-1
5. Luisa Fernandez (WF) def. No. 78 Ellyse Hamlin (DU) 7-5, 6-4
6. Christina Makarova (DU) def. Xue Zhang (WF) 6-7 (5), 6-4, 1-0 (11)
Order of Finish: 4,5,2,3,1,6
Doubles competition
1. Kimmy Guerin/Anna Ulyashchenko (WF) def. No. 14 Beatrice Capra/Ellyse Hamlin (DU) 6-3
2. Samantha Harris/Kaitlyn McCarthy (DU) def. Samantha Asch/Emma Davis (WF) 6-0
3. Chalena Scholl/Alyssa Smith (DU) def. Andrea Retolaza/Luisa Fernandez (WF) 6-4
Order of Finish: 2,1,3
Players Mentioned
