Entering this past weekend's action, the No. 4 men's tennis team was seeking to rebound from a disappointing mid-week loss to South Carolina as it took on a pair of top-30 teams. The results were mixed.
Battling rain delays and court shifts, the Blue Devils fell prey to No. 16 Notre Dame 4-3 on Friday, but they responded to the loss with a 6-1 win over No. 28 Georgia Tech Sunday.
The Fighting Irish, who Duke defeated last week at the Blue-Gray Classic, were on the offensive from the beginning as they captured the doubles point from Duke. The Blue Devils usually thrive at doubles' play, but their top two doubles teams, sophomores Rob Chess and Peter Ayers at the No. 1 spot and juniors Chris Pressley and Philippe Moggio at the No. 2 position, were both defeated by a score of 8-6.
"I can't figure out what happened in doubles," head coach Jay Lapidus said. "All of [Notre Dame's doubles] teams were good. I think we were still a little tired."
The momentum in the match was heading in the Blue Devils' favor at the beginning of the singles contest, though, with Moggio quickly picking up the first win at the No. 5 position. Chess and freshman Adam Gusky won at the second and fourth spots, respectively, both winning easy two-setters.
Ayers, however, dropped a singles match at the No. 3 spot, falling to the Irish's Sprouse, 6-4, 6-2. This loss left the Blue Devils with a 3-2 lead.
Pressley and freshman Sven Koehler were the remaining two Blue Devils left on the court, with just one win needed to clinch the match.
Koehler, playing at the No. 6 spot, originally started his match on the middle set of courts. All six stadium courts were filled because both Duke's men's and women's teams had matches scheduled for Friday. After the women finished, Koehler and his opponent Jason Pun moved to the stadium front courts to complete the match. As the match wore on, it soon was too dark to see, so Koehler and Pun changed courts once more.
While Koehler was roaming from court to court, Pressley, ranked No. 6 in the nation, dropped a three-set battle to Notre Dame's 26th-ranked Andy Zurcher.
Koehler, meanwhile, led Pun after a tiebreaker in the first set. But Pun forced the match to a third set which was interrupted by rain, yet again. The pair finally finished the lengthy match nearly six hours after it had started and Pun squeezed out the victory, 6-7, 6-3, 7-5.
It was the second loss for the Blue Devils in a week, dropping its record to 10-5. In both losses, Duke was two wins away from clinching both matches.
The Blue Devils played Georgia Tech on Sunday in their second conference match of the season. Because of Sunday's inclement weather, the match was moved to indoor courts at the Chapel Hill Tennis Club. Duke returned to form in doubles and used this momentum to dominate the Yellow Jackets.
Chess and Ayers dropped the No. 1 doubles to Tech's Rob Givone and Scott Cotton, 8-5. But Pressley and Moggio as well as the freshman duo of Gusky and Koehler won, to clinch the point.
The team gained more confidence and dominated on the singles side of the net. The final score was deceiving, though.
"It was a tough match," Lapidus said. "A lot of the way it was close. Georgia Tech got a little discouraged after we won a couple of matches and we were able to get the win."
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