Wednesday, March 25 at 5:00 p.m. (ET)
Chewning Tennis Center * Chapel Hill, N.C.
Live Scoring l Watch
DURHAM, N.C. – In yet another top 10 battle, the ninth-ranked Duke women’s tennis team travels down Tobacco Road this week to face fourth-ranked North Carolina in a mid-week matchup slated for Wednesday, March 26 at 5 p.m., at the Chewning Tennis Center in Chapel Hill.
Both squads currently sit at 6-0 in the ACC, which is tied for first along with California. Duke enters the week with a 14-2 overall record and winners of nine matches in a row, while North Carolina is 15-3 and won eight in a row. The Blue Devils last opened the season with a 6-0 ACC start was in the 2021-22 campaign.
Duke Against Top 10 Teams
The Blue Devils own a 22-17 ledger against top 10 teams over the last eight years.
The Series with North Carolina
Duke and North Carolina will meet for the 93rd time in program history with the Tar Heels holding a 48-47 lead in the series. In matches played in Chapel Hill, Duke owns a 17-19 ledger and has dropped six in a row on the road. North Carolina has controlled the series as of late winning 15 out of the last 17 meetings between the two programs. The Blue Devils’ last two wins came in 2018 and 2022 in matches played in Durham.
Scouting North Carolina
Fourth-ranked North Carolina enters the contest with a 15-3 overall and 6-0 ACC ledger. The Tar Heels feature four ranked singles players – Reese Brantmeier (9), Theadora Rabman (15), Carson Tanguilig (43) and Tatum Evans (48). In doubles action, Susanna Maltby and Carson Tanguilig (9), Alanis Hamilton and Reese Brantmeier (20) and Tatum Evans and Theadora Rabman (46) are ranked.
What is Next
Duke will close the weekend with an ACC match against SMU on Sunday, March 30 at 11 a.m.
In the Duke Record Book
Senior Emma Jackson owns 23 wins at the No. 3 singles position over her four years, which ranks seventh on Duke’s all-time charts. She needs one more win to move into a tie for sixth along with Elizabeth Plotkin (24).
Jackson also needs one more ACC singles win to move into a tie for 20th on Duke’s record book. She owns a 23-14 ledger and would tie Wendy Fix and Vanessa Webb with 24. Ellie Coleman is inching closer as well with a 22-7 mark.
Both Jackson and Coleman have combined for an 11-0 record in the ACC to open the season.
ITA Rankings
In the latest Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) rankings, Duke remained in the top 10 nationally at No. 9. Duke head coach Jamie Ashworth has led the Blue Devils into the top 10 of the ITA rankings in 21 out of the last 23 years.
In the latest singles rankings, Duke boasted five ranked student-athletes — Irina Balus (12), Emma Jackson (25), Eleana Yu (41), Shavit Kimchi (66) and Ellie Coleman (125) – along with one ranked doubles team – Ellie Coleman and Balus (13).
Earlier this spring, Balus became the eighth Blue Devil freshman to be ranked in the top 10 nationally and the first since Maria Mateas in 2019. In looking at the ITA rankings, Balus is the second-highest freshman ranked nationally behind Valerie Glozman of Stanford (6).
Ashworth Nearing Another Win Milestone
Duke head coach Jamie Ashworth needs two ACC victories to reach 250 over his career. He will become the first ACC coach to reach 250 league wins over his career. Last year, he joined the 600-win club over his career.
Match-Clinching Wins
Senior Emma Jackson has totaled four match-clinching wins so far this season and has moved her career total to 17 over her four seasons. She now ranks fourth on Duke’s all-time record charts with her 17 match-clinching victories.
Hovde Makes Duke Debut at Boston College & Syracuse
Head coach Jamie Ashworth added 2022 Wimbledon girls’ singles champion Liv Hovde to the roster on Dec. 23 heading into the spring season and she made her 2025 debut on the road at Boston College and Syracuse. Neither of her singles matches were finished, while she won one of her double’s contests in the opening weekend. Hovde registered her first collegiate singles win at Clemson on March 9 and currently owns a three-match winning streak heading into the weekend.
A native of St. Paul, Minn., Hovde is a former No. 1 recruit nationally, while featuring an Intercollegiate Tennis Federation (ITF) career-high ranking of No. 3 and a Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) career-high rankings of No. 245 in singles and No. 354 in doubles. Hovde also owns seven ITF titles.
The Head Coach
Head coach Jamie Ashworth is in his 29th season with the Blue Devils and owns an impressive 618-160 ledger. Last season, Ashworth registered his 600th victory on Jan. 20 in a 4-2 win over Illinois. He accomplished this mark in only 747 matches becoming the quickest coach to 600 wins.
Quickest to 600 Wins – 747 games by Jamie Ashworth (Duke), 749 by Jeff Wallace (Georgia), 779 by Brian Kalbas (William & Mary/North Carolina), and 785 by Lin Loring (UC Santa Barbara/Indiana).
Ashworth became the seventh NCAA Division I coach to reach the 600-win ledger – Loring (846), Wallace (818), Kalbas (748), Jay Louderback (703), Geoff MacDonald (631), Gualberto Escudero (Pepperdine) and Ashworth (600).
Among the winningest coaches of all time, Ashworth ranks 11th with a 79.4 winning percentage, seventh with 618 wins, fourth for winningest active coaches by percentage (79.6) and second for winningest active coaches by victories.
Big Sets for Little Hearts
The Duke men’s and women’s tennis programs announced a partnership with the Duke Children’s Hospital Pediatric and Congenital Heart Center called Big Sets for Little Hearts this past fall.
Big Sets for Little Hearts pledges will be made based on the number of sets won by the men’s and women’s tennis programs. Last year, both tennis teams combined for 647 sets won.
If you are interested in supporting Blue Devil tennis’ partnership with Duke Children’s, you can pledge for each set won during the season or make a one-time donation. Pledges start at $0.10, $0.50, $1.00 and $2.50. Based on last year’s results, the smallest pledged donation would be equal to $64.70. For more information or to donate, click here.
The Duke Children’s Pediatric and Congenital Heart Center is the No. 2 ranked pediatric cardiology and heart surgery program in the United States for newborns and children with congenital and acquired heart disease. The Duke Pediatric and Congenital Heart Center strives to improve their patients’ outcomes and the quality of their lives.
Noting the Blue Devils
- A few Blue Devils are currently riding singles winning streak heading into the next match – Ava Krug (6), Emma Jackson (7), Ellie Coleman (7) and Shavit Kimchi (5).
- Rookie Ava Krug continued her host start to her collegiate career moving to 10-2 overall and 5-0 in dual match action. She improved to 2-0 in ACC play as well.
- Freshman Irina Balus has been tabbed the ACC Freshman of the Week on Feb. 18 and Jan. 28 so far this season.
- Senior Ellie Coleman has now totaled the match-clinching win against a pair of top 10 opponents – No. 10 NC State and No. 6 Michigan. For her career, she owns 11 match-clinching victories.
- Duke freshman Ava Krug has a couple of familiar faces around Durham this season as her brothers, Jake and Connor, are seniors on the Blue Devil men’s tennis team.
To stay up to date with Blue Devils women’s tennis, follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook by searching “DukeWTEN”.
#GoDuke
