Saturday was just another day at the office for the third-ranked women's tennis team.
The Blue Devils neared the end of a dominant regular season by crushing No. 25 South Carolina 6-0 on the sunny West Campus Tennis Courts. Duke did not drop a set while improving to 18-2 on the season. South Carolina fell to 10-10.
"We've been playing good tennis," head coach Geoff Macdonald said. "We're a very mature team in that when in an individual match someone makes a run at our player, we're just coming right back with an answer. And we play so many ranked teams that we're familiar with exactly what you have to do to win . . . Part of that's having three seniors."
Saturday's match was the last one at home in the stellar careers of those three seniors, Julie Exum, Susan Sommerville, and Tracey Hiete. This fact, though, was not a great cause for emotion among the players, as the Blue Devils are a long way from the end of their season.
"It's kind of sad," Sommerville said. "It's our last home match, but our eyes are on the NCAAs, so we don't really pay attention to things like that."
For Macdonald, though, the event had a little more meaning.
"[The seniors] have had tremendous careers, and they're not over yet," Macdonald said. "They're having really good years, all three of them. They, in many ways, have put the team on the map. Each year they've been on the team, it's moved up and they've gotten better and won a lot of individual awards as well. I didn't really think of [it being the last home match], or I'd get sentimental about it."
Against South Carolina, neither the seniors nor the underclassmen had any problems dispensing with the Gamecocks.
At No. 1 singles, Exum jumped out to a quick 5-2 lead over Helen Crook in the first set. Crook broke Exum to cut the lead to 5-4, but Exum broke right back to win the set and proceeded to take the second set 6-2 and win the match.
"I felt pretty good," Exum said. "I was probably a little off today because of the wind, but it was pretty good."
The victory was Exum's first match since defeating North Carolina's Cinda Gurney, the eighth-ranked player in the nation, 6-3, 6-0 on Thursday.
"Day in, day out, [Exum] is remarkable," Macdonald said.
The first two players off the court for Duke were junior Christine Neuman at No. 2 singles and sophomore Monica Mraz at No. 4.
"They're both probably two of the more cerebral players in college tennis," Macdonald said. "Their tactics are great, they can do a lot of different things, and they win as much with their minds as with their shots. They're really smart tennis players."
This was evident Saturday, as both players frustrated their opponents with their quickness and consistency in winning easy matches.
Neuman won 6-1, 6-2 over Victoria Davies while Mraz showed no mercy in crushing Nathalie Acacio, 6-0, 6-0.
At No. 6, Hiete also had a relaxing day, as she defeated Heather Coburn, 6-2, 6-3.
"Tracey did a great job at six," Macdonald said. "That girl gets a million balls back and Tracey overpowered her."
The two closest matches of the day came at the third and fifth spots.
At No. 3, Sommerville struggled with Heather Greene before pulling out a 7-5, 6-4 decision.
"Heather Greene's a good player," Macdonald said. "It was windy and she hits a lot of high [topspin], and then if you hit the ball short, she has the ability to hit a winner. I knew that would be a tough match-up."
Greene actually served for the first set at 5-4, but Sommerville broke the Gamecock freshman and won the next two games for the set.
In the second set, the two baseliners continued to smack the ball at each other in powerful backcourt rallies before Sommerville broke Greene at 5-4 to win the match.
"Heather's real solid off the baseline," Sommerville said. "It was fun."
The other close match came at the fifth position, where freshman Lisa Pugliese struggled with Pauline Rodriguez before winning by a 7-6 (7-1), 6-3 score.
Pugliese fell behind 5-2 and was frustrated by her opponent's style of play, as Rodriguez kept the ball low to the ground and hit with very little pace.
Pugliese came back, though, saving two set points and evening the set at 5-5. It then went to a tie-breaker, where the hard-hitting freshman turned up her play a level and overpowered Rodriguez, 7-1.
In the second set, Pugliese was more patient and had fewer problems in winning 6-3.
"[Lisa] really likes pace," Macdonald said. "It was a good match-up for South Carolina in that Rodriguez has really good touch. Lisa couldn't just go for everything. Rodriguez was a tough matchup for Lisa, but she was really patient today."
Once Duke took a 6-0 lead after the singles, the doubles was canceled, making it a quick afternoon for the Blue Devils.
The regular season is now basically finished for Duke. The Blue Devils, though, must still complete a match with Florida State that was rained out in progress earlier this season. The match will probably be played Thursday afternoon in Charlotte prior to the start of the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.