The men's and women's tennis teams both opened their fall seasons this past weekend.
The women's tennis team sent players to compete in five events at the Wolfpack Tennis Classic in Raleigh, and the Blue Devils finished with five victories.
The men's team had three of its members compete at the Southern Intercollegiate Invitational in Athens, Ga. Rob Chess and Jordan Murray each advanced to the third-round of the singles tournament and also joined forces to reach the quarterfinals in doubles.
Junior Wendy Lyons won the singles title in the Flight A tournament in Raleigh. She defeated Wisconsin's Lauren Gavaris -- who won the National Amateur Championships -- 6-1, 6-1 in Sunday's final. Lyons' championship victory came a day after she knocked off Maria Neubauer, Wisconsin's top player, in a three-set match.
For the past two years, Lyons has quietly won nearly all her matches as the No. 6 player on the Duke team. This tournament, however, marked the first time she has defeated the top players on opposing teams.
"She beat some very good tennis players this weekend," head coach Geoff Macdonald said. "She can legitimately become one of the top 20 players in the country."
Lyons, who was a standard baseline player during her first two years at Duke, has begun to use more spin on her groundstrokes to create a unique style of play for herself.
"I'm trying to work on varying my game and mixing in different shots," Lyons said.
"Every shot seems to have a purpose," Macdonald said. "She's playing very smart, controlled tennis. She's playing offensively when she needs to and defensively when she needs to."
Chris Neuman and Monica Mraz won the Flight A doubles tournament, as Neubauer and Marion Copier defaulted. Neuman and Mraz, who are the top two returning players for Duke, did not play singles this weekend.
Karen O'Sullivan, a freshman, won a grueling three-hour match over Copier, 6-4, 4-6, 6-2, to claim the Flight B singles title. O'Sullivan also combined with Lyons to win the Flight C doubles championship.
"I really didn't know what to expect when I went in there," O'Sullivan said. "I thought I played well, and it was encouraging to me to know that I can play better."
Two other freshmen, Kim Schiff and Wendy Fix, won the Flight B doubles title, 1-6, 6-4, 7-6. They each also advanced to the semifinals in their singles tournaments. Schiff lost to Gavaris, 5-7, 6-3, 6-2, in the Flight A semifinal and Fix was defeated by Copier, 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 in Flight B.
This was the first chance for the freshmen to compete at the collegiate level. In juniors, they usually compete against other players their own age, so it is a new experience for them to face opponents who are up to three years their elder.
"This tournament exposed the freshmen to college tennis," Macdonald said. "It is the first time a lot of them have played for a team. It is a big adjustment from juniors, because in college, every match is tough."
The team hopes that strong performances such as the Wolfpack Classic will encourage Duke students to show support for them during its team competitions in the spring.
"It is great for morale and it motivates people," Macdonald said.
At the Southern Intercollegiate Invitational, Chess of the men's tennis team edged South Florida's Andres Urencio, 6-2, 4-6, 7-6, in the second round, but had only an hour and a half to prepare for his next match. Despite the short break, Chess stayed close to Alex Lindholm of Lander (S.C.) in the third round, before losing in straight sets 6-4, 6-4.
"Chess would have had a good shot at winning the tournament if he had gotten past Lindholm," assistant coach Dave Hagymas said.
Murray also went down in the third round. His serve was inconsistent in his 6-4, 6-4 loss to Jamie Laschinger of top-ranked Georgia.
"Jordan did well," Hagymas said. "He had chances to win. If he had felt physically a little better he would have beaten Laschinger."
Sven Koehler, who is ranked No. 12 in the world in juniors, fell to Boris Kodjoe of Virginia Commonwealth, 6-3, 6-2, in the first round. Koehler, a freshman, played tentatively in his first match for Duke, according to Hagymas.
Chess and Murray led 5-2 in a first-set tie-breaker in their quarterfinal match against a Kentucky doubles team. Nonetheless, they managed to lose the tiebreaker and never regained control of the match.
"The tiebreaker was a huge pivoting point in the match," Hagymas said. "It was a little mentally frustrating for them, losing after being up 5-2 in the tiebreaker."
This was one of the first times that Chess and Murray had played doubles together for Duke. Chess usually joins with Peter Ayers to make up the nation's 18th-ranked doubles team.
But Ayers didn't travel to Georgia this weekend because he will be playing in the National Clay Courts this week. Chris Pressley and Adam Gusky will also be competing in the Jackson, Miss. tournament.
The players hope to learn from fall tournaments such as the Southern Intercollegiate Invitational. They want to improve their games in anticipation of contributing to the team in the spring.
"This gives them a chance to establish an individual ranking," Hagymas said. "Once team competition comes in the spring, I think they'll be ready to go."
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