Women's tennis aims for eight consecutive title

Winning Atlantic Coast Conference championships has become close to automatic for the women's tennis team.

Duke will try for its eighth straight conference title when it competes in the ACC tournament at the Gatewood Country Club in Greenwood, S.C., this weekend. But the eighth-ranked Blue Devils--who only beat Wake Forest by a 5-4 margin last month--are not assured of pulling off an eight-peat.

"We've had a great run at the ACC tournament," senior co-captain Monica Mraz said. "Everybody knows that in the ACC tournament, Duke is the team to beat. So everyone has some extra incentive when they play us."

Duke begins its play in the tourney this afternoon against eighth-seeded Maryland, which defeated Georgia Tech 5-2 in Thursday's play-in game. The Blue Devils demolished the Terrapins 9-0 in College Park last Sunday. In that match, no Duke player lost a single set. In fact, a Duke win over Maryland today is probably about as close to a sure thing as there is in college sports.

"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't looking past Maryland," Mraz said. "We're definitely aiming to win more than one match. Our goal is to win the tournament."

Head coach Jody Hyden believes that Duke has both a physical and mental edge on the Terps.

"I think we're stronger than Maryland, so I don't think they're nearly as confident as we are," Hyden said.

But after today, the Blue Devils believe that every match could be a fight. In the second round, Duke will face either fourth-seeded Clemson or fifth-seeded North Carolina State on Saturday. The Tigers are ranked No. 30 in the nation, and the Wolfpack is No. 41. Although the Blue Devils easily downed both of those teams in the regular season, they do not see their ACC tournament semifinal as an easy match.

But while the same six players who comprise the current Duke team are the same athletes who barely beat Wake last month, they feel that the squad has improved. Since their meeting with the Demon Deacons, the Blue Devils have lost just one match.

"Now is the time that we're beginning to peak, which is what we wanted," Hyden said. "I think we're better now than we were when we played Wake or when we played [third-seeded] Florida State."

Duke's dominance of the conference in recent years--it has dropped just one match in the past seven seasons--also gives it a psychological edge over other ACC teams.

"I'd rather be on the side of having traditionally played well in the conference," Hyden said. "If our girls look at that as an advantage, then it can really help us mentally. But physically, we still have to make shots and play intelligent tennis."

Mraz and fellow senior co-captain Wendy Lyons have some extra motivation to win the championship. This will be their final ACC tournament, and they would like to close out their Duke careers with a perfect record in the conference.

But the Blue Devils realize that, regardless of whether they win or lose, their season will not end on Sunday. Five ACC teams advanced to the NCAA tournament last year, and Duke has made it there six of the past seven years.

As the conference's top team, the Blue Devils will almost certainly make a return trip to the NCAA tourney this season. Duke's players hope to start preparing for next month's tournament this weekend.

"I think this definitely puts us back in a tournament mindset," Mraz said.

Although the Blue Devils have their minds set on winning the ACC tournament, they would not mind being tested along the way.

"I want teams to push us hard," Hyden said. "That helps us play better and better."