The men's and women's tennis teams don't mess around when it comes to the Atlantic Coast Conference.
The women's team faces Virginia Sunday at 12 p.m., and the Blue Devils should have few problems coming away with a victory. However, the men's team must battle a strong non-conference opponent--Miami--and league foe Wake Forest this weekend.
The men's team has won its last seven and 10 out of its last 11 matches. But Miami could pose a threat to Duke's streak when the Hurricanes visit the Duke Tennis Stadium Saturday at 1 p.m.
"Miami is really strong," men's head coach Jay Lapidus said. "But they've had a couple of injuries this year. The guy who plays No. 1 for them had surgery on his foot earlier this year."
However, Srdan Muskatirovic--the No. 7 player in the nation--has come back from his surgery and is expected to see action on Saturday. In his absence, Miami suffered and dropped in the rankings to No. 31.
"It will be a tough match for us," Lapidus said. "I don't think their ranking is indicative of how good they are. When [Muskatirovic] was out, they lost some matches they shouldn't have."
No. 11 Duke will enjoy the good competition that a team like Miami brings. In the Blue Devils' last four outings, it has only dropped one point out of 26.
However, when the Blue Devils battle Wake Forest on Sunday at 2 p.m., Duke will again face one of the not-so-good ACC teams. The Blue Devils are 14-3 overall and 4-0 in league play.
"Wake is kind of in the middle of the pack in the ACC," Lapidus said. "They'll be on about the same level as Virginia [which Duke defeated 7-0]."
In Wednesday's blowout of N.C. State, Lapidus made a slight change in his lineup. Sophomore Adam Gusky, who has played at No. 4 this spring, was shifted to No. 3 while junior Peter Ayers played No. 4.
" I made the change for two reasons," Lapidus said. "First, a lot of the other teams have been matching up against us. We've played the same lineup all year, so they put in players that play well against a certain style. I want to remain a little bit unpredictable.
"Also, Adam is 14-1. He's playing so well right now. He's playing at a high level of intensity."
While the men's team will face one tough opponent at home this weekend, the women's team isn't expecting big problems. Duke (15-4, 5-0 in the ACC) boasts a six-year unbeaten streak in the conference, while the Cavaliers are 6-6 overall and 3-2 in the ACC this spring.
The Blue Devils also boast a recent winning streak, as they have won their last eight matchups. Although some of the competition in the ACC may not be top-notch, the Blue Devils try to focus on different aspects of the match.
"We have goals that we try and work on besides just winning the match," freshman Laura Zifer said. "We try to be more aggressive."
ACC teams are always pumped to play Duke, since its streak is so notable and lengthy.
"It's a challenge to keep the streak going," Zifer said. "It is really exciting that we've done so well in the past. That makes teams look forward to playing us and that makes us want to play better."
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