Seniors Monica Mraz and Wendy Lyons have finished their impressive careers as women's tennis players at Duke.
True to form, the pair left in style--garnering All-America honors and advancing to the quarterfinals of the NCAA doubles competition.
In the quarterfinal round, they were edged out by UCLA's Keri Phebus and Susie Starrett, 6-1, 6-7, 6-3. The second-ranked Bruin team continued its rout through the tournament, defeating No. 3 Kelly Pace and Christina Moros of Texas to capture the tournament title.
"I think we played well," Lyons said. "I think we could have won that match [against Phebus and Starrett]. We had moments where we'd make a ton of mistakes and other moments when we'd play really well. We were up and down in that match."
Although the tandem fell in the quarterfinals, Mraz and Lyons notched two key victories over teams from Wake Forest and Illinois in the first and second rounds.
Demon Deacons Dana Evans and Maggie Harris were familiar foes of the Duke pair, as the two teams had faced each other twice already this season.
In fact, Mraz and Lyons clinched the Atlantic Coast Conference title with a dramatic doubles victory over Evans and Harris on April 23. The Duke pair came back from a 5-1 third-set deficit to give the Blue Devils their eighth straight ACC championship.
And in the NCAAs, Evans and Harris once again fell to Mraz and Lyons in the first round of competition, 6-7, 6-3, 6-1.
The Duke duo just kept rolling through the round of 16, easily downing Camille Baldrich and Kristen Jones of Illinois, 6-1, 6-2.
"We just figured out their game style quickly," Lyons said of the pair from Illinois. "We were able to capitalize on that."
Both Mraz and Lyons also received bids to play in the singles tournament. Lyons faced the unfortunate draw of Georgia's Stacy Sheppard.
"I think I played really well [against Sheppard]," Lyons said. "She just had a really good tournament. She played very well. I just had a tough first-round draw."
Even though Lyons could not advance past the first round, Mraz had a little bit more success against her first opponent. She breezed past Rachel Epstein of Indiana, 6-2, 6-0. Mraz was upset by Texas' Farley Taylor in the second round, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, however.
Both Mraz and Lyons were named All-Americans for the second time in their careers. The duo also leaves with a grand slam title, the 1994 Riviera All-American, as one of their countless honors achieved at Duke.
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