This weekend's circumstances were ones that the men's tennis team hadn't faced in quite a while--it had to fight to retain first place in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
On Wednesday, North Carolina broke Duke's three-year winning streak in conference play. For the first time since 1992, the Blue Devils headed into its last two league matchups with a loss on their conference record. The team needed to win both to be assured of the conference title.
Duke was able to complete this quest, as it snatched road victories from Georgia Tech and Clemson, claiming first place in the ACC final regular-season standings. Florida State tied the Blue Devils for first, but Duke (18-4, 7-1 in the ACC) will receive the top seed in this weekend's conference tournament, since it beat the Seminoles 4-3 on March 25.
"I think the whole team had a little bit more motivation after the UNC match," senior Chris Pressley said. "We knew we'd have to play at a high level. I was really pleased with our effort this weekend."
On Saturday, No. 11 Duke defeated the Yellow Jackets, 6-1. The Blue Devils started off the match as usual-- dominating doubles play, winning all three matches.
The doubles point came with a slightly different lineup. Juniors Rob Chess and Peter Ayers continued playing at the No. 1 position, while the team of Pressley and fellow senior Philippe Moggio competed at No. 2. The duo played together for most of last year, but had been split up for all of this season. Sophomore Adam Gusky and junior Nick Walrod were also a new pair, playing No. 3 doubles for the Blue Devils.
"We've been struggling a little bit in doubles lately," head coach Jay Lapidus said. "We decided to make a change and get some different matchups. We'll stay with those doubles teams for the ACC tournament."
Gusky, usually the team's No. 4 singles player, had a chance to play at the No. 2 position in singles against the Yellow Jackets, since Chess was sick and only able to play doubles. Gusky responded well to the challenge, outlasting Tech's B.J. Traub, 6-7, 6-4, 6-4.
"That was a good match," Lapidus said. "It was a good opportunity for Adam to play No. 2. It's an opportunity he hasn't had before. He didn't feel like he played that well, but he played with guts and he played good enough to win."
Moggio dropped the only point on the day, falling to Yellow Jacket Joe Nickels at No. 4. All of the other players defeated their opponents in straight sets.
The match that was foremost on the Blue Devils' minds prior to this weekend was the Clemson match. The Tigers and the Blue Devils had only dropped one ACC match each, so the contest was a battle that Duke had to win to claim first place.
After three years of being No. 1 in the conference, Duke was anxious to regain that top spot. On Sunday, the Blue Devils uncharacteristically dropped the doubles point, putting that regular-season crown in jeopardy.
"We knew the doubles point was really key," Pressley said. "It was a great effort to come back after we lost the doubles. Everybody came through for us."
Duke captured the match 5-2 with the help of strong play from the singles side. Sophomore Sven Koehler was the first Blue Devil to pull in his point on Sunday, easily downing Clemson's Charly Rasheed, 6-2, 6-1. Pressley also had little problem with Tiger Chris Angell, beating him 6-4, 6-3. Chess was able to play singles on Sunday, and also won in straight sets, 7-5, 6-4. Ayers pulled out a victory over Bruce Li, 6-4, 6-2.
Gusky played at No. 4 on Sunday, and again took three sets to finish off his opponent, Frank Salazar, 2-6, 6-2, 6-4. Moggio fell in his singles match to Tech's Cris Robinson, 6-2, 6-4.
"[Robinson] is really good," Lapidus said. "I think he should be playing higher in the lineup than No. 5. Philippe's game was also a little bit off."
Duke heads to the ACC tournament in Greenwood, S.C., this weekend with hopes for a three-peat. However, with a possible semifinal rematch with fourth-seeded North Carolina, the task will not be easy. Yet the Blue Devils need little additional motivation for that matchup.
"We just want to play UNC again and get revenge," Lapidus said.
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