It didn't take long to find out that Duke was king of the courts in Raleigh yesterday. The men's tennis team whipped N.C. State on Thursday, 7-0.
Duke (15-5 overall, 4-0 Atlantic Coast Conference), ranked No. 5 in nation, dropped only one doubles match in its domination of the Wolfpack.
The doubles team of sophomores Rob Chess and Peter Ayers were defeated at the No. 1 slot, falling to the nation's 15th-ranked doubles team of Bolick and Saunders, 8-5.
Junior Chris Pressley and freshman Sven Koehler pulled out a close match at the No. 2 slot over State's Ozaki and Finch, 9-7. The duo of freshman Adam Gusky and sophomore Nick Walrod secured the doubles point by defeating the Wolfpack's Kennedy and Murphy at the No. 3 position, 8-6.
"We were looking flat in doubles," head coach Jay Lapidus said. "Peter and Rob just couldn't quite capitalize on some points they had. [Bolick and Saunders] are nationally ranked in doubles and Peter and Rob just couldn't pull out the win."
After the tough doubles competition, Duke had few problems during the singles matches. The Blue Devils dropped just one set throughout the entire singles competition.
As the first seed, Pressley, ranked No. 5 in the nation, encountered little resistance from No. 85 Bolick and easily defeated him, 6-3, 6-3.
"Chris has been working really hard," Lapidus said. "He's been giving some extra effort lately and he's moving well right now."
Chess, at the No. 2 spot, played the only three-setter of the day. He dropped the first set before battling back to defeat Saunders, 3-6, 6-4, 6-2. Ayers dropped State's Ozaki at the No. 3 position, 6-4, 6-3. Gusky took little time in smashing the Wolfpack's Kennedy, 6-0, 6-1.
"Adam played really well today," Lapidus said. "[This spring] he was coming off an ankle injury from the fall and has just continued to get better and better. He's gained a lot more confidence and he's doing great now."
Koehler saw time at the No. 5 position and scored another victory for the Blue Devils, easing by State's Vaughan, 6-1, 6-4. Walrod played at the No. 6 slot, defeating Murphy 6-4, 6-4.
The Wolfpack provided little challenge for the highly-ranked Blue Devils, but the team tries not to look past any competitor.
"We got through the match comfortably," Lapidus said. "There's always a chance that we could lose. A team like [N.C. State] can get really fired up to play us. There have been so many upsets in college tennis this year that anything could happen. However, we were considerably more talented than [North Carolina State]."
The Blue Devils play their last road matches this weekend, competing against two ACC teams, Virginia and Maryland.
"Maryland is not very good this year," Lapidus said. "We should have no problem with them.
"Virginia, however, is better this year. They're fairly deep -- it should be a good match."
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