#9 Clemson Upends #7 Duke, 4-3, on Sunday

April 11, 2010

Watch Clemson vs. Duke on TigerCast:Singles: #1 | #2 | #3Doubles: #1 | #2 | #3 Senior Day Celebration

CLEMSON, SC – Hoke Sloan Tennis Center. The Tigers (19-4, 7-2 ACC) dropped the doubles point, but won singles matches at flights one, two, four, and five to clinch their final home regular-season match of 2010.

The win was Clemson’s second this season over a top-ten opponent, and seventh over a top-25 team. Additionally, the Tigers moved to 11-1 at home this season, and will close out the regular season next weekend at Virginia and Virginia Tech.

The Tigers went 1-1 in a weekend which featured two top-ten opponents, and put Clemson in strong contention for a first-round bye in the ACC Tournament, which will be held from April 22-25 in Cary, NC.

In doubles action, Duke’s group of Mary Clayton and Monica Gorny got off the court first with an 8-3 win over Clemson’s pair of Laurianne Henry.

At #1 doubles, the ninth-ranked duo of Ina Hadziselimovic fought back from a 5-3 deficit to defeat #42 Amanda Granson and Ellah Nze, 8-5, and knot the doubles at one apiece. For Hadziselimovic, it was her 29th doubles victory of the season and the 99th of her career, one shy of the school record of 100.

At flight three, freshmen Caroline Magnusson and Nelly Ciolkowski were down 3-0 to the #58 ranked team of Elizabeth Plotkin and Reka Zsilinszka, before fighting back to knot the match at three apiece. The teams traded points, before Duke won the next four games en route to an 8-4 win and the doubles point.

Laurianne Henry defeated her second straight ACC opponent and was the first one in with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Amanda Granson.

Josipa Bek cruised past #40 Ellah Nze at flight one to give Clemson a 2-1 lead with a 6-3, 6-0 win. It was her sixth straight win, four of which have been over ranked opponents. Bek is now 24-12 for the year.

#39 Reka Zsilinszka tied the match at two apiece with a 6-3, 6-1 win over #102 Ina Hadziselimovic.

#76 Nelly Ciolkowski gave Clemson the lead again at 3-2 with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Amanda Granson. Ciolkowski moved to 26-5 on the year and 7-2 in ACC matches.

Duke tied the match at 3-all as Mary Clayton won a first set tiebreaker over Caroline Magnusson, 7-6 (7-5), and came back to win the second set, 6-0, pushing the match down to flight two.

At flight two, #53 Keri Wong and #62 Elizabeth Plotkin battled though a tiebreak in the first set, which Plotkin won, 7-4. Wong had held a 5-3 advantage in the set before Plotkin came back to force the tiebreaker.

Wong struck back with a 6-3 win in the second set to force a match-deciding third set.

Wong held serve twice and broke twice to take a 4-0 lead. Plotkin came back from a 40-15 deficit to win four straight points and break Wong’s serve. She then held serve to come to within 4-2. Wong responded with a hold of serve, nailing an ace to move ahead 5-2.

After Plotkin again held, she took a 30-0 lead in the ninth game, but Wong responded to take a 40-30 lead. Plotkin then hit her return of a Wong volley into the net, clinching the match for Clemson in just under four hours.

#9 Clemson 4, #7 Duke 3

April 11, 2010 – Clemson, SC

Doubles:

1. #9 Bek/Hadziselimovic (CU) d. #42 Nze/Granson (DU), 8-5

2. Clayton/Gorny (DU) d. Wong/Henry (CU), 8-3

3. #58 Plotkin/Zsilinszka (DU) d. Magnusson/Ciolkowski (CU), 8-4

Order of Finish: 2,1,3

Singles

1. #24 Josipa Bek (CU) d. #40 Ellah Nze (DU), 6-3, 6-0

2. #53 Keri Wong (CU) d. #62 Elizabeth Plotkin (DU) 6-7(4), 6-3, 6-3

3. #39 Reka Zsilinszka (DU) d. #102 Ina Hadziselimovic (CU), 6-1, 6-3

4. #76 Nelly Ciolkowski (CU) d. Amanda Granson (DU), 6-3, 6-2