Northwestern
Duke
No. 26 Wildcats Narrowly Edged by No. 14 Duke
1/31/2016 2:55:00 PM | Women's Tennis
BOX SCORE (PDF)
EVANSTON, Ill. — Despite leading early, No. 26 Northwestern fell to No. 14 Duke on Sunday afternoon, 4-3.
The Wildcats took the first match in the No. 2 doubles match, as the seventh-ranked Maddie Lipp and Lee Or downed Duke's Kaitlyn McCarthy and Samantha Harris 6-3. The 'Cats were downed in the No. 3 match, 6-4, which led to a pivotal matchup at No. 1.
Alicia Barnett and Erin Larner clawed back from being down 4-2 to even up the score at four. The duo did not let up against the 26th-ranked doubles pair in the nation, and they edged Beatrice Capra and Ellyse Hamlin 6-4 to put the Wildcats up 1-0 after doubles competition.
Barnett returned to her winning ways in the singles competition, slicing up Harris, 6-2, 6-3. Her win was the first Northwestern victory in singles, pushing the Wildcat lead up to 2-0.
After losing the first set in No. 4 singles, Or came back and defeated No. 79 Schorr in the second set. However, Scholl pulled through and bested Or, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3.
In some of the tightest action of the afternoon, No. 28 Beatrice Capra and No. 61 Maddie Lipp played all the way to a tiebreaker in the first set. Capra defeated Lipp, however, and won the match, 7-6, 6-3.
With the Blue Devils on top 3-2, the Nos. 2 and 6 singles matches were the deciding pieces of the day.
Larner started her match on top of No. 29 McCarthy in the first set, but proceeded to lose, 7-5. After trailing again in the second set, she fought all the way back to win, 7-5. Larner started on top in the third set, but McCarthy was able to top her in dramatic fashion, winning 7-5, 5-7, 6-4 and securing the win.
Jillian Rooney fought through a disappointing second set loss and came back to win the match, 6-3, 6-7, 7-6, which gave the Wildcats their third point of the day.
The 'Cats have two weeks off until their next competition when they host Vanderbilt on Feb. 14 at 11 a.m. at the Combe Tennis Center.
#14 Duke 4, #26 Northwestern 3
Doubles
No. 1 - Alicia Barnett/Erin Larner (NU) def. #26 Beatrice Capra/Ellyse Hamlin (DUKE), 6-4
No. 2 - #7 Maddie Lipp/Lee Or (NU) def. Kaitlyn McCarthy/Samantha Harris (DUKE), 6-3
No. 3 - Chalena Scholl/Jessica Ho (DUKE) def. Brooke Rischbieth/Manon Peri (NU), 6-4
Order of Finish: 2, 3, 1*
Singles
No. 1 - #28 Beatrice Capra (DUKE) def. #61 Maddie Lipp (NU), 7-6, 6-3
No. 2 - #29 Kaitlyn McCarthy (DUKE) def. Erin Larner (NU), 7-5, 5-7, 6-4
No. 3 - Alicia Barnett (NU) def. Samantha Harris (DUKE), 6-2, 6-3
No. 4 - #79 Chalena Scholl (DUKE) def. Lee Or (NU), 4-6, 6-2, 6-3
No. 5 - #70 Ellyse Hamlin (DUKE) def. Brooke Rischbieth (NU), 6-3, 2-6, 6-2
No. 6 - Jillian Rooney (NU) def. Jessica Ho (DUKE), 6-3, 6-7, 7-6
Order of Finish: 3, 4, 5, 1, 2*, 6
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