KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The 21st-ranked Duke women’s tennis team saw its run in the NCAA Tournament come to an end on Sunday in Knoxville, Tenn., with a 4-0 setback against 16th-ranked Tennessee at Barksdale Stadium.
After a hot start by the Lady Vols, Duke tried to make a comeback, but Tennessee was too strong in the end on its home court. The Blue Devils concluded their season with a 16-10 overall record, while the Lady Vols moved to 20-7 and advanced to the NCAA round of 16.
How It Happened
- In doubles action, Tennessee opened play by winning the first game on all three courts.
- Duke’s tandem of Brianna Shvets and Iuliia Bryzgalova had a tight match with Lauren Anzalotta and Catherine Aulia that featured the Lady Vols winning key deuce points in the first and third games to take a 2-1 lead.Trailing 3-1, the Blue Devils broke Tennessee in two out of the next three games to cut the lead to 4-3.Shvets and Bryzgalova led 40-15 and then dropped a deuce point to trail 5-3 and eventually lost the set, 6-3.
- On court two, the Blue Devil duo of Emma Jackson and Karolina Berankova led 2-1 early, but the Lady Vols won three straight games to go ahead 4-2.After Duke broke Tennessee to cut the lead to 4-3, Tennessee’s Esther Adeshina and Alana Wolfberg won back-to-back games clinch the doubles point with a 6-3 victory.
- When the doubles point was clinched, Duke’s Shavit Kimchi and Katie Codd were trailing, 5-3, to 11th-ranked Elza Tomase and Sofia Cabezas.
- Tennessee kept the momentum going in singles by winning the first set on five of the six courts.
- On court six, the Lady Vols’ Adeshina jumped out to leads in both sets against Berankova and eventually posted a 6-2, 6-1 victory to give Tennessee a 2-0 lead.
- After dropping the first set, 6-1, to Wolfberg on court three and trailing 3-1 in the second set, Duke’s 110th-ranked Bryzgalova started making a comeback.Bryzgalova, who is from Russia, won three straight games to take a 4-3 lead in the second.After dropping the next game, the duo were in a key deuce…
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