The women's tennis team slammed past one of the nation's best teams on Sunday, beating No. 4 Texas, 5-4.
The victory capped off the 10th-ranked Blue Devils' spring break road trip in which they won four of their five matches.
Duke (10-4, 2-0 in the Atlantic Coast Conference) won four of the six singles matches in Sunday's battle in Austin, Texas. Sophomore Karen O'Sullivan and freshman Ellen McCance, playing in the No. 5 and No. 6 singles positions, respectively, gave the Blue Devils a solid lead with their straight-set victories.
But at the top four singles positions, the matches went to three sets.
"It was the first time all year that six people have played that near to their potential for us at one time," head coach Jody Hyden said. "All the matches were close. Everyone had an opportunity to quit, but nobody on our team did that.
"It was a classic college tennis match."
The Longhorns' Farley Taylor and Anne Pastor prevailed at the No. 2 and No. 4 positions to give Texas its two singles wins. But neither senior Wendy Lyons (at No. 2) or sophomore Wendy Fix (at No. 4) made those matches easy for the Longhorns. Fix had a chance to win in straight sets, but Pastor broke her serve, and held on for a 5-7, 7-6, 6-3 victory.
Lyons, who has recovered from a shoulder injury which has hampered her play for much of the past month, fell to Taylor, 6-4, 4-6, 7-5. Earlier in the week, Lyons had won a straight-set match at Florida.
"The matches were good for her mentally," Hyden said. "She just scrapped through the match [against Taylor]. Wendy wasn't hitting the ball well, but she fought through it. She's just getting back into pressure situations."
The Blue Devils were able to pull out the other two three-setters. Freshman Laura Zifer was down 5-4 in the third set, but she was able to break the serve of her opponent, Cristina Moros, and then hold her own serve. Another break of serve gave Zifer a 7-6, 4-6, 7-5 win.
After all the other singles matches were completed, Duke senior Monica Mraz--who is ranked No. 6 in the country--was left standing on the court after the final set of her duel with Kelly Pace, who is ranked second nationally. Mraz had won the first set, 6-1, as Pace made several early mistakes. But then both players took their play to a higher level for the start of the second set.
"That is when the match really began," Mraz said. "It was a real mental contest for both of us."
Pace won the second set in a tiebreaker, but Mraz jumped out to a 4-1 edge in the decisive third set. Cheered on by the raucous crowd, Pace rallied to even the score at 5-5. But Mraz fought past Pace and the loud Longhorn fans to win the final two games--and the match.
"I like being in those kinds of situations," Mraz said. "We were the last players on the court, and their crowd was into it. Everyone on our team was really cheering me on.
"I was really tired after that match. But that was because I had left everything on the court."
Zifer and Fix teamed up for a 6-2, 7-6 win over Taylor and Pastor at the No. 2 doubles spot to secure the victory for Duke. The Blue Devils lost their other two doubles matches in straight sets.
"It was definitely our biggest win of the season," Mraz said. "It was an added boost to beat them at Texas. They get great fan support, so it's a really big accomplishment to beat them on their home turf."
The Blue Devils were also in Austin on Saturday when they knocked off No. 13 Southern California, 7-2.
"We played a really good Southern California team," Hyden said. "That sort of set the tone for the next day."
Earlier in its southern excursion, Duke beat ACC rivals Georgia Tech 9-0 and Florida State 6-1. The only blemish on Duke's otherwise perfect road trip was a 7-2 loss at No. 6 Florida last Tuesday.
"It's always a little bit of a disadvantage when you go on the road," Mraz said. "But I think that we're a real close-knit group. This was a real confidence booster. We did really well, particularly at the end of the week."
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