WACO, Texas – The eighth-seeded Duke women’s tennis team took the court Tuesday at the Hurd Tennis Center for the first time as the Blue Devils prepare to compete in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Championship Thursday, May 15 at 11 a.m. (ET) against top-seeded Georgia in Waco.
For five Blue Devils – Emma Jackson, Ellie Coleman, Irina Balus, Eleana Yu and Shavit Kimchi – it is a return trip to Waco as they competed in the NCAA Singles and Doubles Championship in the fall. The rest of the members of the Duke squad – Liv Hovde, Ava Krug and Katie Codd – stepped foot on the Hurd Tennis Center courts for the first time this season.
“Yeah, it was great,” said Coleman. “Obviously, about half of us were here in the fall so it’s nice to be back with the whole crew. It felt good to get a practice in today, get used to the conditions, the heat, how the courts play differently and I think yeah we had a great practice out there.”
For Duke head coach Jamie Ashworth, it marks the 17th time he has taken the Blue Devils into the quarterfinal round at the NCAA Championship.
“Following the Auburn match, we had a couple days off,” said Ashworth. “We had a couple girls with graduation and so we made sure that they were celebrated and were able to spend some time with their families. We had a short practice yesterday at Duke. Then we flew here yesterday afternoon and got on the courts today. I think there’s definitely a level of excitement and energy. You go through a season and you’re practicing and practicing and that kind of stuff. Sometimes practice can get a little bit mundane. But you come here and everyone’s excited to be on the courts and really valued the time that we had on the courts today. It was a great first practice and looking forward to getting back out there.”
After a two-year absence from the quarterfinals, Ashworth has guided Duke back to familiar territory. As freshmen, Coleman and Jackson were a part of the last Blue Devil squad to reach the quarterfinals in 2022 and took Duke into the semifinals, before dropping a 4-3 decision to Oklahoma.
“You have to earn everything that you get and this team has definitely earned their way here,” said Ashworth. “I’m proud of them for breaking that trend you go through. We’ve had a lot of success in our program and you think it’s not routine, but you think oh, you’re going to get there all the time and it’s hard. I don’t think people realize how hard it is to win matches. I was talking to some of the other coaches that were out here this morning. It’s hard to get here. There’s so much parity. There are so many things that can happen in a match and it’s hard to win. I don’t think that people understand that. They just look at the rankings and say, oh, whatever it is and you should be there. It’s tough and it’s a credit to our team and to the other seven teams that are here to be honest with you. I mean it’s definitely not easy.”
The Blue Devils feature a 24-3 ledger on the year and if they can make it 25 victories Duke will advance to the NCAA Final Four for the 12th time under Ashworth.
Duke will have another day of practice Wednesday and then face the Bulldogs Thursday at 12 p.m. (ET) live on ESPN+.
