The Duke women's tennis team clinched the regular season Atlantic Coast Conference title after a pair of victories this weekend over Virginia and Maryland.
Junior Karen O'Sullivan did not play in the matches this weekend due to a sprained ankle. Since sophomore Laura Zifer is also out with an elbow injury, the Blue Devils were down to six players with which to battle Virginia on Saturday.
The Blue Devils defeated UVa (6-7, 4-4 in the ACC) by a score of 8-1. Duke won five of its six singles matches, four in straight sets. The surprise of the afternoon came when No. 2 nationally-ranked Vanessa Webb was upset at the No. 1 position by unranked Alison Cohen. In a grueling three-set match with two tiebreakers, Webb just wasn't in her usual form, as she had a match point in the third set, but wasn't able to close it out.
"Vanessa's game is centered around her serve and volley technique," head coach Jody Hyden said. "She's the most aggressive player in tennis right now, and she just had a bad day. Alison Cohen also had a very good day."
Freshman Kristin Sanderson won handily at the No. 2 position, defeating Jen Fiers 6-2, 6-2. Sophomore Luanne Spadea and juniors Diana Spadea and Wendy Fix also won in straight sets, sealing a Duke victory before the doubles players took the court.
Sophomore Ellen McCance step-ped in for O'Sullivan and helped the team by winning both her singles and doubles matches.
Webb had a chance to avenge her singles loss with an 8-5 doubles victory with partner Diana Spadea over Cohen and Fiers.
"I think they were a very good team," Webb said. "Diana and I have been playing together all season and we've really learned to play well together."
With this win, the Blue Devils increased their record to 19-3, 7-0 in the ACC.
As soon as Duke claimed the victory, though, it had to travel to Maryland to finish its conference competition.
The Blue Devils easily defeated the Terrapins (9-7, 4-4 in the ACC) without dropping a set. Webb provided the closest match again as she defeated Thea Ivanisevic 7-6, 6-3.
Duke finished the season 8-0 in the ACC, increasing its streak to 77 consecutive conference wins. This also marks the Blue Devils' ninth straight ACC regular-season championship. Next weekend they will attempt to continue their ACC domination in Greenwood, S.C. at the ACC Tournament.
Zifer will most likely return to the line-up for the tournament, although O'Sullivan may not. But the Blue Devils are not worried.
"Despite the injuries we've been having, our team is so confident that anyone who plays will be able to do well," Fix said. "I'm really excited about playing Wake Forest again. I think our motivation has been building all season and we'll be able to do well in the ACCs."
"We've beaten every team fairly easily," Webb said. "I feel confident we'll do well in the ACCs."
With all this confidence, Hyden is trying to take one step at a time.
"We've talked all year about playing our best tennis in April," he said. "Now here we are. I think we're prepared and ready, but I don't want to look ahead of myself. Right now we're going to concentrate on the first round of the ACCs. We'll think about Wake Forest later."
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