No. 5 Duke Falls at ITA National Team Indoors

SEATTLE, Wash. – Fifth-ranked Duke women’s tennis suffered its first setback of the 2023 campaign on Friday afternoon to open action at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) National Team Indoor Championship as the Blue Devils dropped a 4-2 decision to 15th-ranked Oklahoma at the Nordstrom Tennis Center in Seattle, Wash.

How It Happened

•    Oklahoma came out in doubles on fire winning the first point on all three courts.

•    The Sooners were very impressive on courts two and three dropping only one point and clinching the doubles point.

•    On court three, the team of Dana Guzman and Julia Garcia Ruiz knocked off Duke’s Emma Jackson and Iuliia Bryzgalova, 6-0.

•    Oklahoma clinched the doubles point with a 6-1 win by Layne Sleeth and Alexandra Pisareva over the Blue Devils’ 25th-ranked duo of Karolina Berankova and Ellie Coleman.

•    Chloe Beck and Cameron Morra dropped the first point to Carmen Corley and Ivana Corley, but won four out of the next five to take a 4-2 lead when the doubles point was clinched.

•    The Sooners continued their hot start into singles winning the first set on four of the six courts.

•    Jackson, who is ranked No. 21 nationally, evened the match for the Blue Devils with a 6-3, 6-4 win on court four over Garcia Ruiz.  Jackson trailed 3-4 in the second set, before winning three straight points to get the victory.

•    Oklahoma then went back ahead, 3-1, in a matter of a couple of minutes with wins on court six and three.

•    On court six, Pisareva defeated Duke’s Bryzgalova, 6-4, 6-2, and on court three 83rd-ranked Guzman totaled a 6-4, 6-4 win over Georgia Drummy.  

•    Duke’s fifth-ranked Beck was able to cut into Oklahoma’s lead with a 6-4, 6-2 win on court one.  Beck dropped the first point in both sets and trailed, 0-2, in the second, before battling back against Sleeth.

•    Coleman and Emma Staker battled back-and-forth on court five. In the first set, Coleman led 4-2, but Staker came back to win three straight points to go ahead, 5-4.  Trailing, 6-5, Coleman won to send the first set into a tiebreaker.  Coleman led 4-1 early, but Staker would eventually win, 9-7.  In the second set, Coleman could never get the lead and dropped a 6-4 decision.  

•    Morra fell in the first set,…