Domination.
The word clearly reflects the men's tennis team's season in the Atlantic Coast Conference. After finishing the year undefeated in conference play, the team comes into this weekend's ACC Tournament in Charlotte, a heavy favorite.
Out of 56 available points from doubles and singles play in the conference this year, the Blue Devils dropped just four. Not only is the team the No. 1 seed in the tournament, but the latest national polls have the team ranked No. 5, the highest ranking ever received by the Blue Devils.
As the top seed, Duke will face Virginia tonight at 7:30 p.m. On Thursday, the Cavaliers advanced to the quaterfinals by defeating Maryland 6-1.
Virginia had a regular season record of 10-12, and were 2-6 in the ACC. When the teams met earlier this year, the result was a 7-0 Duke blowout.
If the Blue Devils beat the Cavaliers, then they will face the Wake Forest-Georgia Tech winner on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. If Duke advances again, the most likely opponent in the final is North Carolina, who is seeded second in the tournament and ranked 16th in the nation. The championship match will be played at noon on Sunday.
In preparation for this weeekend's tournament, head coach Jay Lapidus emphasized doubles play in practice this past week. Under a trial format instituted this year, the winner of two out of the three doubles matches receives one point. Each of the six singles matches is also worth one point.
The ACC has played this format for the regular season and voted to use it in the tournament. After this season, the NCAA decide whether or not to adopt this system permanently.
"Our doubles have been really good,"
Lapidus said. "When we get that doubles point under our belt, teams are not going to beat us because we're so strong in singles."Throughout the year, Duke has faced many of the top teams in the country. This scheduling pays off when tournament time rolls around.
The Blue Devils have arguably played the toughest non-conference schedule in the ACC, and that experience should lead to positive results in tournament play. The only losses that the Blue Devils have suffered this season were by team ranked No. 1, 2, 3 and 7.
"We've had a very good schedule. Playing the National Team Indoors gave us an opportunity to see some of the top teams in the country. We were also able to play Georgia and UCLA," Lapidus said. "I definitely think [playing the top teams in the nation] helps us. We know we can play with them, then when we play teams that aren't quite [at] that level, we feel very confident going into those matches."
In a conference that has been nothing but the Blue Devils this season, you might simply write off the tournament and declare Duke the winner. But the team looks forward to each match.
"You look at every match as a challenge. You try to do things that will help you in later matches," senior captain Jason Rayman said. "The ACC tournament will give us match play [to help prepare] us for the NCAA's."
Sophomore Chris Pressley, the 20th ranked player in the nation, has not played since April 7 against North Carolina, when he fractured his wrist. Pressley, though, is set to play in the tournament.
"We've been working really hard with his conditioning," said Lapidus. "He's in great shape right now. It'll [most likely] take him a match to get mentally into the flow of playing matches again. But by the time we get to the finals, he should be at full speed."
One of the strengths this year for the Blue Devils has been depth. Senior Daivd Hall has been a constant strong point at No. 1 singles, and he is currently ranked 15th in the nation.
Hall is followed by Pressley at the second slot. These top two players are aided by strong play in the third, fourth, and fifth slots. Seniors Willy Quest, Rayman, and freshman Peter Ayers have battled for these positions. Rayman is ranked 57th in the nation.
"[Quest, Rayman, and Ayers] have all been playing really well; they're all so close," said Lapidus. "I could put any of them anywhere; it adds an element of surprise to the lineup."
The lineup is finished by any number of players at the sixth slot. Freshmen Jordan Murray and Rob Chess have both received playing time in this position, as has sophomore Philippe Moggio.
The doubles lineup is led by outstanding play in the second slot by the freshman duo of Chess and Ayers, who have accumulated a 6-2 record in conference play.
The other two doubles pairs have included a variety of players throughout the season. Despite the many combinations in third position, the team has dropped just one ACC match in that slot.
Hall and Quest are 3-1 as the first doubles in ACC play, and Pressley and Murray have notched a 3-0 ACC record as the third doubles.
One factor that should help spur the Blue Devils to a tournament title is revenge. Last year in the ACC tournament final, the team was edged out in a close match by North Carolina. The Duke team is eyeing a rematch with the Tar Heels in the championship match on Sunday.
"The ACC is a big tournament for us," Chess said. "We're looking forward to playing North Carolina since they beat us [in the finals] last year."
UNC is the only team in the ACC that seems capable of challenging Duke. The Tar Heels are led by the third ranked player in the nation, senior Roland Thornqvist.
But North Carolina does not have the strength in the middle positions that Duke has. After the top players, Duke clearly has the edge.
"[Thornqvist] carries the No. 1 singles and doubles, but our strength against Carolina is in the fourth and fifth [positions]," said Lapidus. "[UNC] is not quite as strong as we are in those positions."
In just a few short years, the Blue Devils have established thenselves as one of the elite men's tennis programs in the nation. At the beginning of the 1990-91 season, the team was unranked. From that point, the squad vaulted up the polls over the past three years to the fifth team in the nation. Look for the Blue Devils to extend their 13 match winning streak with a powerful showing in the tournament.
"We're playing really well right now. If we keep the level [of intensity] up, then there aren't many teams that can beat us," Lapidus said. "We could lose, but we've also put ourselves in the position where we could win the whole thing."
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