Duke Defeats Clemson 5-2

April 12, 2009

CLEMSON, SC – Duke defeated Clemson 5-2 in a men’s Atlantic Coast Conference tennis match at Clemson, SC Sunday afternoon.

With the win, Duke improves to 14-7 overall and 7-4 in the ACC. The Blue Devils are ranked 30th according to the latest ITA poll. Clemson falls to 11-12 overall and 3-8 in league play. The Tigers are ranked 59th nationally according to the latest ITA poll.

In today’s match, the Tigers won the doubles team point as Clemson picked up wins at two and three doubles. From this point the Blue Devils won the top five singles matches to claim the league victory.

Duke tied the score 1-1 when Alain Michel defeated Clemson’s Kevin Fleck 6-3, 6-0 at number five singles. Duke picked up another victory as Reid Carleton defeated the Tigers’ Carlos Alvarez at number one singles 6-1, 1-6, 6-3.

The Blue Devils’ Dylan Arnould defeated Gera Boryachinskiy at number three singles 6-4, 7-5 to take a 3-1 lead in the match.

At number six, Kevin Galloway of Clemson defeated Luke Marchese of Duke 7-6, 6-1 to narrow the Blue Devils lead to 3-2. Jaren Pinsky won over the Tigers’ Ike Belk at number four singles 7-6, 7-6 to clinch the match and give the Blue Devils the team victory.

At number two singles, Kiril Dimitrov of Duke defeated Rok Bizjak 2-6, 6-3, 7-5 to make the final score 5-2 in Duke’s favor.

This was the 66th meeting between the Tigers and Duke on the tennis courts.

The Blue Devils now lead the overall series 35-31. The Tigers still lead the series in matches played at Clemson 15-13. The two schools first met in men’s tennis in the 1956 season.

“This was another tough loss,” said Clemson Head Coach Chuck McCuen. I challenged my team before the match to keep working and keep pushing to the top. We were very close today. Our players have great attitudes. Again, we are making progress and showing improvement daily. They have done everything we have asked them to do this season. We are looking forward to the ACC tournament. We are poised and ready, and we are capable of doing some good things at the tournament.”

The 2009 season marks the 100th year of men’s tennis at Tigertown. Clemson first sponsored men’s tennis in 1910 when two Tiger tennis players entered the annual state tournament. The first dual match was played in the 1921 season as the Tigers defeated Wofford 2-0 on April 28, in Spartanburg, SC.

Both Clemson and Duke will participate in the ACC Tournament on April 16-19 at Cary, NC.

Duke 5, Clemson 2

Doubles 1. Kiril Dimitrov/Luke Marchese (D) d. Gera Boryachinskiy/Carlos Alvarez (CU) 8-7 2. Rok Bizjak/Wesley Moran (CU) d. David Holland/Dylan Arnould (D) 8-4 3. Kevin Fleck/Ike Belk (CU) d. Jaren Pinsky/Reid Carleton (D) 8-4 Order of finish: 2, 3, 1

Singles 1. Reid Carleton (D) d. Carlos Alvarez (CU) 6-1, 1-6, 6-3 2. Kiril Dimitrov (D) d. Rok Bizjak (CU) 2-6 6-3, 7-5 3. Dylan Arnould (D) d. Gera Boryachinskiy (CU) 6-4, 7-5 4. Jaren Pinsky (D) d. Ike Belk (CU) 7-6, 7-6 5. Alain Michel (D) d. Kevin Fleck (CU) 6-3, 6-0 6. Kevin Galloway (CU) d. Luke Marchese (D) 7-6, 6-1 Order of finish: 5, 1, 3, 6, 4, 2

Duke 14-7, 7-4 in the ACC, Ranked 30th Clemson 11-12, 3-8 in the ACC, Ranked 59th