CARY — It was either one or the other. Fans swiveled their heads in anticipation of who would clinch the match. 

The contest was between Duke’s freshmen, Liv Hovde and Irina Balus, each just a point away on courts one and two. This time, under the cloudless Cary sky, Balus pushed the Blue Devils into the semifinals of the ACC Tournament. The Blue Devils defeated the Yellow Jackets 4-1 as the Banská Bystrica, Slovakia, native shook hands with Georgia Tech’s Alejandra Cruz after her first match-clinching win. 

“I knew I just had to keep fighting, play aggressive and that moment [would] come where the match is going to turn around,” Balus said. “So I was waiting for that moment. It came at 4-all in the second set, and then I would say the momentum went into my favor.”

Once Balus reached that inflection point in the match, she squashed her Yellow Jacket opponent. Breaking Cruz in the first game, Balus took two deuce points and five straight games, winning 6-1.

On court one, Hovde’s match against Scarlett Nicholson, also a three-set thriller, ended unfinished, almost adding another top-25 win to the Duke freshman’s resumé. In an extremely close first set, the Daniel Island, S.C., native edged a 7-6 tiebreak victory, fighting in prolonged rallies. Hovde’s drop shots forced Nicholson out of position, opening opportunities to place volleys out her reach. Nicholson responded in the second 6-4, even going up 3-1 in the third, but Hovde put on a clinic, winning four-straight games.

“That was some of the best tennis she has played all year,” Ashworth said about Hovde. “Irina came through huge from the middle of the second set all the way through that third set. We need both of them to accomplish the goals this team wants to accomplish.” 

The rest of the singles matches were also close, reminiscent of Duke’s 4-3 victory in Atlanta. Eleana Yu was on the opposite end of a first-set tiebreaker. She found momentum in the second set 6-3, and led in the third before the clinch. 

Ellie Coleman, the rock of the Blue Devils, cruised to 6-2, 6-3 win to offset Shavit Kimchi’s 6-3, 6-2 loss. Meanwhile, Emma Jackson battled against Kate Sharabura in two close sets, ending victorious 7-5 and 6-4. Sharabura’s height caused problems for Jackson’s lob shots, but the La Grange Park, Ill., native found alternate ways to success. Jackson secured four straight games in the second set through strong serves — indicated by 68% total serve points won — and rounding to her forehand to place it out of reach of Sharabura. 

“We’ve had a great season so far,” Balus said. “Each of us want to fight for each other, especially for Emma and Ellie, we want to make a great senior year for them and win this.”