By DAN WICHMAN
CHARLOTTE -- Prior to this season, the men's tennis team had several goals.
One was to go undefeated in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Another was to achieve a top-five national ranking.
The Blue Devils then wanted to win the ACC Tournament and enter the NCAA Tournament with a shot at winning it all.
To this point, things could not have gone any smoother.
Sunday, No. 5 Duke gained revenge for last year's 5-4 loss to North Carolina in the ACC Tournament final with a decisive 5-1 victory over the No. 16 Tar Heels in the championship match at the Renaissance Park Tennis Center. By defeating Virginia, Wake Forest and UNC, Duke took the title it had captured two years ago and improved to 23-4, 11-0 in the ACC. North Carolina fell to 17-8 and lost to Duke for the second time this season.
"The guys really came through," head coach Jay Lapidus said. "The other team played very emotional and it was the last match with their coach. It may have been their last chance to get to the NCAAs, so it was huge for them.
"For us, it was a match we were expected to win. A lot of times you get into trouble in a situation like that. I was really proud of my guys."
For UNC coach Allen Morris, retiring after his 13th season, it was his last ACC Tournament and one he wanted badly to win.
"Duke is a great team," Morris said. "Duke's got an experienced team, and they played well and deserved to win. But I'm proud of our kids because they fought hard."
Senior Willy Quest was named the Tournament MVP, as he won all three of his singles and doubles matches over the weekend. For Quest, who lost one of the decisive matches in last year's final, the weekend could not have gone any better.
"I felt like the goat of last year," Quest said. "It was very redeeming to play really well and culminate my ACC career."
The match was played in front of a boisterous, mostly pro-UNC crowd, and the Tar Heels came out strong in the doubles.
The only quick match came at No. 3, where UNC freshmen David Caldwell and Brint Morrow dominated sophomore Chris Pressley and freshman Jordan Murray in winning 8-3.
Both matches at No.1 and 2 were close, and at one point, UNC was up at least a break on each of the courts. But Duke would come back.
At No. 1, seniors Dave Hall and Quest fell behind 5-3 against the sixth-ranked team in the nation, Roland Thornqvist and Daryl Wyatt. Players on both sides were pumping fists and yelling after every point in an emotional, intensity-filled match.
Quest held serve to 4-5, and the Duke pair managed to break the powerful six-foot-five Thornqvist to tie the match at 5-5. Both teams held the next three games to give Duke a 7-6 lead. The Blue Devils then managed to break Thornqvist again and take the match on Hall's topspin lob winner.
"We really came out fired up, and we both just started playing really well," Quest said. "We got down a break, but we strung some returns together and started serving better and volleying better and really took it to them."
At No. 2, freshmen Pete Ayers and Rob Chess recovered from an early break and pulled out an 8-6 victory over Sean Steinour and Brett Hutton.
"At one point, it was looking like we were definitely going to go down that one point," Lapidus said. "I was getting pretty nervous . . . I was afraid if we lost that point, things would steamroll on us.
"Rob and Pete, all year long, have been pulling out big matches. And [Thornqvist and Wyatt] hadn't lost a match in 16 straight matches. To have Dave and Willy come back as seniors to win is unbelievable. That was some of the best doubles in terms of the tension."
Duke took two quick matches in the singles, beginning with No. 20 Pressley's 6-2, 6-0 win over Caldwell. Pressley had fractured his wrist in a tight three-set win over Caldwell two-and-a-half weeks ago. The time off working solely on movement and conditioning helped Pressley, though, as he thoroughly dominated his opponent.
"I'm in better shape than I was when I played [Caldwell] last time," Pressley said. "I think I'm hitting the ball better."
Quest also won a quick 6-1, 6-4 decision over Wyatt, while No. 15 Hall fell 6-4, 6-1 to No. 3 Thornqvist.
It was then up to the freshmen, Ayers and Chess, who each seemed close to clinching the match. Ayers was the one to do it, as he beat Steinour 6-4, 6-4, ending it with a thunderous service winner and clinching the team title.
"Pete just wins big matches," Lapidus said. "He just comes through . . . What more could you ask of the guy."
Friday, Duke actually had its closest ACC match of the year defeating the No. 8 seed Virginia, 5-2. Hall and Ayers lost tough three-set matches, but only after the match had been decided with doubles and quick singles wins.
Saturday, Duke defeated Wake Forest 6-1, as Hall was the only Blue Devil to lose a point, dropping a 6-3, 6-2 decision to Sigmund Degler for the second time this season.
"We just came out and from the beginning of the doubles just controlled every point and I think dominated them," Rayman said.
For Hall, it was a tough weekend personally, but Sunday's doubles victory and the team's overall performance helped compensate for that.
"I really haven't been playing well all year," Hall said. "But I finally played one good doubles match, so it was all right. I didn't make the contribution I wanted to, but it wasn't like I lost singles and doubles. At least I contributed a little bit. The doubles helped push us over the edge."
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