Shrugging off a heartbreaking 5-4 loss to Florida two weeks ago, the women's tennis team rolled through this weekend's schedule in imposing style, defeating two vaunted opponents with ease.
The Blue Devils pounded No. 15 San Diego 8-1 on Saturday, and returned the next afternoon to put away No. 6 Texas by a score of 5-3. Both matches were played in sweltering heat on the Longhorns' campus in Austin, where a hostile partisan crowd made concentration considerably more difficult for the Duke players.
Road trips are not new to this year's Blue Devil team. Away matches make up a good part of its calender this year, and apparently for good reason.
"[Playing on the road] has given us a kind of toughness that we really need," said head coach Geoff Macdonald. "Sometimes it's nine people going up against 900, and we just have to ignore the crowd and maintain our poise. The way we did that [Sunday] was remarkable."
Among several strong individual performances by the Blue Devils, Julie Exum's stood out. The senior exhibited composure and some top notch tennis as she put aside a recent agonizing run of singles losses to win all her matches this weekend, including a battle with Texas All-American Susan Gilchrist. Exum swept both her singles contests 6-1, 6-3, and lost only three games in her doubles matches, during which she teamed with Monica Mraz.
Mraz was also outstanding. The sophomore won both her singles matches by identical 6-3, 6-2 scores. Duke will be counting on Mraz to maintain her current excellent form as the NCAA tournament nears. The All-American has given the Blue Devils more or less of a sure win at No. 4 singles.
Not to be ignored was Tracey Hiete's resounding 6-2, 6-3 win over Texas' Ashley Johnson. Coming off a painful singles loss against San Diego the previous day, Hiete's win was described by Macdonald as "a great mental effort".
Saturday's match against San Diego served as a perfect warmup for the Longhorns. Before Sunday, the current crop of seniors had beaten Texas. In last season's match, Duke had come frustratingly close before bowing out 5-4. But Texas could never afford to overlook the Blue Devils, because this year's team has a quality last year's sorely lacked -- belief.
"We come in with an attitude that we can take it and win, and that has helped us a lot," Macdonald said. "It's a rocky road getting to the top, but we're handling it very well, and belief is a big part of it."
The match against the Longhorns surprisingly did not stretch the Blue Devils. Mraz, Lisa Pugliese and Hiete stepped up their games and their outstanding singles results set up a win that was seldom in doubt.
"We had difficult moments but played good enough tennis [to overcome them]," Macdonald said. "The players were retrieving the ball, getting the first serves in and putting the overheads away.
"We're looking good as far as the NCAAs are concerned and with respect to our goals," Macdonald said. "I have a lot of faith in the team. Our attention is more on investing in the long haul. We don't have to be perfect now but if we chisel away, the wins are going to come for us."
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