No. 9 Duke Edges No. 4 Georgia 4-3

Saturday, February 10

Madison, Wis.

1:00 PM

University of Georgia

Duke University

February 10, 2018 | Women's Tennis

MADISON, Wis.------Ninth-ranked Duke edged fourth-ranked Georgia 4-3 Saturday in the quarterfinals of the ITA National Team Indoor Championships.

The Bulldogs (4-1) gained the early advantage with impressive doubles play against the nation's strongest lineup as the Blue Devils feature two tandems ranked among the top five. Duke's duo of Ellyse Hamlin and Kaitlyn McCarthy are ranked No. 2 while Samantha Harris and Kelly Chen are ranked No. 5.

Georgia's team of senior Kennedy Shaffer and freshman Annette Goulak raced out to a 6-2 win at No. 3 over Meible Chi and Hannah Zhao. In the No. 2 contest, Georgia's 18^th-ranked duo of senior Marianna Gould and freshman Katarina Jokic upset Hamlin/McCarthy 6-3 to clinch the first team point. The Georgia duo improved to 17-3 on the year while the Blue Devil team dropped to 15-3. Meanwhile at No. 1, the eighth-ranked Bulldog tandem of Elena Christofi and Morgan Coppoc battled Harris and Chen to 5-all when the match was halted.

In singles, the Blue Devils (6-0) registered four wins to claim the match and advance to the semifinals. They won the first set in four matches while all six contests were decided in straight sets. Duke evened the match with a victory at No. 2 as McCarthy beat Shaffer 6-2,6-2. Gould defeated Zhao 6-1,7-5 at No. 6 for a 2-1 lead and minutes later Hamlin made it 2-all with a 6-2,6-3 victory over Christofi at No. 4.

Jokic, ranked eighth nationally, posted a 7-6(2),6-1 win over ninth-ranked Harris in the feature match that gave the Bulldogs a 3-2 lead. She improved to 23-3 this year. Then, Chi held off Coppoc 6-4,7-5 at No. 5 for her 10^th straight win and knot the match at three. All eyes turned to the deciding match at No. 3 as sophomore Marta Gonzalez, ranked 49^th, was battling 30^th-ranked Chen. Gonzalez got the second set to a tiebreaker but Chen was able to close out the match, 6-4,7-6(1).

"We're learning a lot about our team, and we're still growing this early in the season," said Georgia coach Jeff Wallace. "I thought we played well in doubles and certainly had the momentum up 1-0, but then we didn't take advantage of some opportunities we had in singles. Katarina and Mariana got a couple key wins for us, and we were unable to get one more. Now, we're focused on coming back Sunday and taking care of business."

On Sunday, Georgia will play a consolation match against eighth-ranked Texas Tech scheduled for 4:30 p.m. ET. The Red Raiders are 5-1 this year after beating UCLA 4-2 Friday and then falling to No. 3 seed North Carolina 4-1 Saturday.

--get results--

#9 Duke 4, #4 Georgia 3
ITA National Team Indoors: Quarterfinals
Madison, Wisc. Nielsen Tennis Stadium

Doubles
1.     #8 Christofi/Coppoc (UGA) vs. #5 Samantha Harris/Kelly Chen (DU) 5-5, unfinished
2.     #18 Gould/Jokic (UGA) def. #2 Ellyse Hamlin/Kaitlyn McCarthy (DU) 6-3
3.     Goulak/Shaffer (UGA) def. Meible Chi/Hannah Zhao (DU) 6-2
Order of Finish: (3,2)

Singles
1.     #8 Katarina Jokic (UGA) def. #9 Samantha Harris (DU) 7-6(2),6-1
2.     #65 Kaitlyn McCarthy (DU) def. Kennedy Shaffer (UGA) 6-2,6-2
3.     #30 Kelly Chen (DU) def. #49 Marta Gonzalez (UGA) 6-4,7-6(1)
4.    #119 Ellyse Hamlin (DU) def. Elena Christofi (UGA) 6-2,6-3
5.     #106 Meible Chi (DU) def. #71 Morgan Coppoc (UGA) 6-4,7-5
6.     Mariana Gould (UGA) def. Hannah Zhao (DU) 6-1,7-5
Order of Finish: (2,6,4,1,5,3)