It's amazing what a loss can do for a team's motivation.
The men's tennis team experienced that motivation first-hand when its three-year conference winning streak was broken by arch-rival North Carolina on April 12. The Blue Devils regained their form and finished in a tie for first in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Duke heads into the ACC tournament this weekend at the Gatewood Country Club in Greenwood, S.C., as the No. 1 seed. Ninth-ranked Duke and 16th-ranked Florida State each posted one loss in the conference, but the Blue Devils received the top seed since they defeated the Seminoles 4-3 on March 25.
But Florida State is not the primary team on the Blue Devils' minds. Since the 4-3 loss to the Tar Heels, Duke's main objective has been to show North Carolina who is No. 1 in the ACC.
"I feel like we've got something to shoot for," head coach Jay Lapidus said. "To avenge that loss to North Carolina and win the championship now would just be really nice. I feel a lot more fire now and I think the guys do, too."
As the top seed, the Blue Devils face N.C. State at 3 p.m. today. The Wolfpack defeated Maryland 7-0 in Thursday's play-in match.
Duke is looking to win its third straight championship, and its fourth in the last five years. Its last ACC tournament loss came at the hands of North Carolina in the championship match in 1992. But the Blue Devils are approaching this weekend's tournament in a different light than those of previous years.
"[The UNC loss] gives us something to look forward to in the ACC tournament," senior Philippe Moggio said. "Before, it was just kind of defending titles. Now, it's more avenging a loss--to prove that we are No. 1 in the ACC."
One of the strong points that Duke has relied on in the past has been its consistent doubles play. In recent matches at North Carolina and Clemson, however, the Blue Devils dropped the doubles point. After the UNC match, Lapidus shifted the pairings at the No. 2 and No. 3 positions. Moggio and fellow senior Chris Pressley are currently playing together at the second slot, while sophomore Adam Gusky and junior Nick Walrod now compete at the No. 3 position.
"We rearranged our doubles teams because Adam and Philippe were struggling [at No. 2 doubles]," Lapidus said. "We've been working a lot on doubles, because I feel--especially at the ACC level--if we can win the doubles point, we should be in really good shape. I don't see many teams winning four of the six singles against us."
Some of the other coaches in the league think their teams do have a shot at knocking off powerhouse Duke. When the Seminoles played in Durham, they were missing a starter and still lost only 4-3--leaving the hope for an upset on FSU's mind.
"I think we have a realistic shot [at winning the tournament] this year," Florida State head coach Dave Barron said. "I think our team is better. In the past couple of years, I've been rebuilding the program. I think [the tournament] is a little more open than in the past."
Duke will combat the strength from other ACC teams with the depth it boasts. Pressley--the 10th-ranked player in the nation--heads up the singles at No. 1. Chess, also ranked nationally at No. 18 follows at the second slot. But these two players have each lost three league matches, so the Blue Devils truly show their conference toughness at the lower positions on the court.
"Where we struggled against Florida State and North Carolina was up high in our positions," Lapidus said. "We're really strong down low. If we can do well in doubles and up high in our lineup, then I think we'll be in good shape."
With a much stronger ACC field than in years past, the Blue Devils will need to achieve that all-around effort to win the tournament title again. But Duke is relying on that extra bit of motivation from the UNC loss to propel the team to another title.
"The UNC loss woke us up a little bit--we were kind of a sleeping giant," Lapidus said. "I feel like it's going to help us--give us the proverbial kick in the butt. The guys feel like we are still the team to beat."
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