DURHAM, N.C. – The William & Mary women's tennis team battled No. 10 Duke, before falling 4-0 in the opening match of the ITA Kick-Off Weekend on Saturday. The Blue Devils (2-0) claimed the doubles point and won the first three singles matches off the court in straight sets, but on the other side, W&M won first sets in three singles tilts. The Green and Gold (2-1) looked poised to push the top-10 foe to the brink before a tiebreaker win in the second set at No. 2 solidified Duke's advancement in the national event. 
 
The Blue Devils opened the match by claiming the doubles point with wins at No. 1 and No. 3. All three positions were hotly contested early. At both No. 1 and No. 3, W&M rallied from 3-0 deficits to pull even at three. Unfortunately, in each instance, Duke ripped off three-straight games to win the match. At No. 3, Samantha Harris and Rebecca Smaller gave the Blue Devils the early lead with a 6-3 victory over juniors Maria Groener and Ekaterina Stepanova. Duke cemented the doubles point with a 6-3 win from Kaitlyn McCarthy and Meible Chi over the Tribe's Marie Faure and Lauren Goodman at the top spot. The No. 2 match-up between W&M's Olivia Thaler and Rosie Cheng and Duke's Chalena Scholl and Alyssa Smith was abandoned with the Blue Devils holding a slim 5-4 advantage.

In singles, Duke increased the lead to 3-0 with straight-set wins at No. 1 and No. 5. Goodman, Thaler and Groener each picked up first set wins to give the Green and Gold comeback a chance. At No. 3, Goodman took the opening set from No. 34-ranked Chalena Scholl, 6-2, and led 2-1 in the third set after Scholl rallied to win the second, 6-4.
 
Thaler also took the first set from nationally-ranked opponent, jumping to a lead over No. 76-ranked Kaitlyn McCarthy at the fourth singles post. The Tribe junior won the opening set, 7-5, before McCarthy answered to take the second, 6-2.
 
At No. 6, Groener upended Smaller, 6-2, in the first set, before the Duke player won the second, 6-3. The Tribe junior led 2-1 in the third set when the match was abandoned with the team result decided.
 
Chi, who is ranked No. 14 nationally, clinched the Blue Devil team triumph with a victory at the No. 2 spot. After Chi won the opening set, 6-2, Stepanova battled the ranked foe into the second-set tiebreaker. Ultimately, Chi held on for a 7-4 victory.
 
The Tribe closes out the ITA Kick-Off Weekend against Tulsa on Sunday at 10 a.m. The Golden Hurricane, who received votes in the latest ITA National Top 25, suffered a narrow 4-3 setback to No. 25-ranked Northwestern on Saturday. It will be the first-ever meeting between W&M and Tulsa. Duke faces Northwestern at 2 p.m. for a spot in the ITA National Indoor Championship. Live stats and video for both matches will be available at GoDuke.com.
 
#10 Duke 4, William & Mary 0
Singles
No. 1 – Samantha Harris (Duke) def. Marie Faure (W&M) – 6-2, 6-1
No. 2 – #14 Meible Chi (Duke) def. Ekateriana Stepanova (W&M) – 6-2, 7-6 (4)
No. 3 – Lauren Goodman (W&M) vs. #34 Chalena Scholl (Duke) – DNF, 6-1, 4-6, 2-1
No. 4 – Olivia Thaler (W&M) vs. #76 Kaitlyn McCarthy (Duke) – DNF, 7-5, 2-6, 1-2
No. 5 – Alyssa Smith (Duke) def. Rosie Cheng (W&M) – 6-2, 6-2
No. 6 – Maria Groener (W&M) vs. Rebecca Smaller (Duke) – DNF, 6-2, 3-6, 2-1
Finishing Order: 1, 5, 2*
 
Doubles
No. 1 – McCarthy/Chi (Duke) def. Faure/Goodman (W&M) – 6-3
No. 2 – Smith/Scholl (Duke) vs. Cheng/Thaler (W&M) – DNF, 5-4
No. 3 – Harris/Smaller (Duke) def. Groener/Stepanova (W&M) – 6-3
Finishing Order: 3, 1