Kimchi Voted ACC Freshman of the Year

DURHAM – Duke rookie Shavit Kimchi was voted ACC Freshman of the Year following an impressive 2023-24 season with the Blue Devils.  A product of Sdey Hemed, Israel, Kimchi received the honor following a vote of the league head coaches. She became just the 12th Blue Devil to be tabbed ACC Freshman of the Year. 
 
Kimchi was also named to the All-ACC Third Team. 

“Congrats to Shavit for being named the ACC Freshman of the Year,” said Duke head coach Jamie Ashworth.  “She worked tremendously hard this year and it is great that coaches in our conference have recognized that.  The ACC has a long-standing tradition of producing great freshmen tennis players and having her name on this list next to some of the all-time greats is something she should be proud of.  She was one of only two freshmen to play in the NCAA Singles Championship this year, an accomplishment she should be proud of and an accomplishment she should be excited to build upon.  We expect Shavit to continue to improve and continue to be a great leader for our team in the years to come.”

 

On the season, Kimchi totaled a 17-12 overall singles mark and 14-13 doubles ledger.  She earned ACC Freshman of the Week a total of five times during the season, which ranked as the second-most by a Duke rookie in school history behind Kelly Chen (6).  Kimchi finished the season ranked No. 72 nationally and was ranked as high as No. 58 in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) during the year. Her ranking of No. 72 to conclude the year was the highest by any freshman in the ACC. 

 

Kimchi led Duke with seven match-clinching wins on the season, which equaled the Duke single-season record held by Emma Jackson (2021-22), Monica Turewicz (2011-12) and Mallory Cecil (2008-09). 

 

In the fall, Kimchi opened her collegiate career in impressive fashion with back-to-back top-30 wins against No. 27 Sydni Ratliff of Ohio State and No. 17 Elza Tomase of Tennessee at the Debbie Southern Furman Fall Classic.  She became the first Blue Devil to open her collegiate career with a pair of top-30 ranked wins since Beatrice Capra accomplished it in 2010-11. 

 

Playing at the No. 1 and No. 2 singles positions, Kimchi collected an 8-5 ACC ledger on the year.  She closed the season by winning eight of her final 12 matches and totaled five ranked…