SPARTANBURG, S.C.--The men's tennis team came into the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament with a mission.
The Blue Devils wanted to show the conference that they were still the team to beat. Duke had tied for the regular season title with Florida State, but had lost an ACC match for the first time in three years when North Carolina beat the Blue Devils 4-3 on April 12.
Sunday evening, it was "mission successful" for Duke--although it wasn't easy.
After winning a thrilling 4-3 semifinal match over UNC on Saturday night, Duke came back Sunday to defeat Clemson 5-1 for the program's third-straight conference title and fourth in five years.
The final two rounds of the tournament were moved indoors to the Westside Tennis Club in Spartanburg, S.C., because of inclement weather.
"Every year, I feel like we're right there at the top, and we always seem to come through in the tournament," Blue Devil head coach Jay Lapidus said. "It's a great feeling."
"We know that every time we come to the ACCs, it's going to be a battle," said Duke senior Philippe Moggio, who was named the tournament's MVP. "This year was tougher than the last two years."
Against the Tigers, Duke jumped on top early when it swept the doubles. At No. 1, sophomores Rob Chess and Peter Ayers won 9-8 after a tiebreaker, while seniors Chris Pressley and Moggio (at No. 2) and sophomore Adam Gusky and junior Nick Walrod (at No. 3) won easily.
"Everyone felt confident after we got the doubles point," Ayers said.
Because of that, the large Tiger contingent on hand--whose noisy cheers often went unheard by the players because of glass windows surrounding the court--never were able to do any prolonged hoopin' and hollerin'.
But because the facility had only six courts--and the women's final was taking place on three of them--the match became a marathon.
First off the court was Ayers, who won 6-3, 7-6 over Bruce Li at No. 3. Then Chess--who had waited for an hour while the women's match finished on his court--was still second off the court after destroying Mitch Sprengelmeyer at No. 2.
"Rob played really well," Lapidus said. "Peter struggled in the second set, but he came through in the end."
Things got a "little bit hairy," as Lapidus put it, when Pressley lost a three-setter to Chris Angell, who he had defeated easily only a week ago in Duke's 5-2 victory at Clemson.
"I was surprised at the level Angell was able to maintain," Lapidus said. "I thought that one would be a `gimme' for us."
Despite Pressley's loss, Duke led 3-1, and a race began to clinch the title. Moggio actually had three match points at 5-4 in the third set, but opponent Chris Robinson saved all of them to prolong the match.
That left the door open for sophomore Sven Koehler at No. 6, and he barged right through it. Koehler's forehand volley winner put away Bryan Twente, giving Koehler a 7-5, 6-3 victory and clinching the match for Duke.
"Sven came through for us again," Lapidus said.
Moggio, who was in a third-set tiebreaker, was allowed to finish, and he won the tiebreaker 10-8. Gusky's match, which was also in the third set, was suspended.
"[The championship] may be a little sweeter this year having lost a match, and everyone saying we're not invincible," said Ayers, who along with Chess, has an ACC title in each of his three seasons. "It gets sweeter every year."
The Clemson match was uneventful compared to the contest with UNC--which ended after 11 p.m. on Saturday. Just as it had in its match earlier this season, Duke lost the doubles point, as the Ayers-Chess and Gusky-Walrod teams were beaten by the inspired, fist-pumping Tar Heels. Lapidus then gave his team an earful prior to the singles competition.
"Jay got mad at us, because I guess we weren't intense enough," Moggio said.
In singles, Pressley was quickly bounced 6-2, 6-3 by friend and rival David Caldwell at the top spot. After three straight wins over Caldwell, it was Pressley's second consecutive loss to the highly-ranked Tar Heel.
Koehler won in straight sets and avenged an earlier loss to David Britt, but Chess lost 7-6, 6-3 to nemesis Brint Morrow.
That left Duke down 3-1 with each of the remaining matches in a third set.
"At one point in my second set, I thought it was all crumbling," said Ayers, who was on the side of the club where Pressley and Chess were struggling and couldn't see the rest of the matches.
With Duke down 3-1, however, the drama began.
First, Gusky came back after losing the opening set to beat Tony Thomas. Then Moggio outlasted Robert Tedesco in a 6-7, 7-6, 6-1 marathon, leaving Ayers and Tar Heel Paul Harsanyi with the decisive match.
But the third set was never in doubt. Ayers won 6-7, 7-5, 6-1 to gain revenge for his team and put the Blue Devils in Sunday's final.
"[The UNC match] was a gigantic hump for us to get over," Lapidus said. "It was a very emotional match. I didn't sleep a wink [Saturday] night.
"We talked about not having a let-down [against Clemson]."
The let-down was not a problem. Getting onto dry courts, however, was challenging. The match, which had originally been scheduled for 3 p.m., did not begin until after 4:30 and lasted until nearly 9 p.m.
"Our intensity was much better in the doubles," Lapidus said. "Also, we've won in the past, and we've paid the price. I think that helped us today."
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