While many Duke students journeyed across the globe for summer jobs at the start of the summer, many Blue Devil athletic teams still had unfinished business to take care. The teams accomplished a number of firsts as they competed throughout the month of May.
Women's tennis: For only the second time in Duke women's tennis history, the Blue Devils advanced to the Final Four.
Duke knocked off defending champions Texas in a grueling 5-4 victory in the quarterfinal round of the NCAA Championships. However, the third-ranked Blue Devils could not come up with enough firepower to slip by No. 2 Stanford in the semifinals, losing 5-2.
"It was important for this team to be here in the semis and come close," Duke head coach Jody Hyden said. "Next year I think we'll handle this situation better and we'll come through in some of those big games and big points that we had this year. I think the team's already said we're already looking forward to next year. That's a great attitude to have.
"I'm very proud of them. We've got our heads up high. We had a good season, and we came close."
In individual competition, sophomore Vanessa Webb led the charge for the women in Tallahassee, Fla., claiming two victories to move into the quarterfinals in singles action.
Webb, seeded third in the singles tournament, easily dismantled her first two opponents. She trounced Sandra DeSilva of Stanford, 6-4, 6-0, in the first round and defeated Agnes Muzamel of Mississippi, 6-4, 6-1, in the second.
In quarterfinal action, Webb faced No. 4 Jill Craybas of Florida. Craybas, a senior, used her experience and aggressive gameplan to down Webb 6-4, 7-6.
Webb finished her sophomore campaign as one of the highest ranked players in the nation and was named the 1996 Intercollegiate Tennis Association Rookie of the Year.
"I thought she had a great year as a sophomore," Hyden said. "I think her goal was to be top 10 in the country, and she reached that. Coming in, I didn't know how she would do against some of the top ranked players, but she did very well."
In doubles, Webb and senior Diana Spadea fell to the second-seeded Stanford team of Ania Bleszynski and Katie Schlukebir, 2-6, 6-3, 6-0.
Webb and Spadea had reached the round of 8 by defeating Vicky Maes and Khristen Pietrucha of Arizona 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.
The other Duke tandem in the draw, senior Wendy Fix and junior Laura Zifer, fell, 6-2, 6-2, to the fifth-ranked team of Dawn Buth and Stephanie Nickitas of Florida.
Men's tennis: The Blue Devils completed yet another stellar season, finishing 20-6 on the year and appearing in their fifth straight NCAA tournament. Duke advanced to the first round of the NCAA tournament before falling to fifth ranked Southern California, 4-1.
The Blue Devils earned the trip to the NCAAs by first winning the ACC tournament and then dispensing with their two opponents in regional competition. Duke did not lose a point in the regionals-whipping Clemson and then Florida State by 4-0 scores.
"We had a great year," Duke men's tennis coach Jay Lapidus said. "To win the ACC tournament and to make to the NCAA round of 16 shows the hard work we've done and the great senior leadership we've had. Obviously we always want to do better, but looking back on it all, this has been a real successful year."
At the conclusion of the team competition, the individual championships roared into action. In doubles, sophomore Dmitry Muzyka and senior Sven Koehler lost their first round match, 7-6, 7-5, to Steve Baldas and Jamie Laschinger of Georgia.
In the singles competition, Muzyka, ranked 42nd, was forced to default his match because of leg cramps. Colorado's Marc Bauer came away with the victory and was leading at the time 6-4, 6-7(5), 3-2.
The headliner for the men, was Rob Chess, Trinity '96, ranked 13th nationally. Chess advanced to the second round of the singles competition before bowing out, 4-6, 6-1, 6-0, to Manual Ramirez of Southern California.
Chess leaves Duke as the school's all-time winningest men's player with a 112-41 record. "He was a number six or seven player his first year, so to become the all-time winningest player at Duke is phenomenal," Lapidus said. "He's a great kid whose worked really hard and represented the program in the best way possible. So, I am really happy to see how well he ended up doing at Duke."
Women's golf: The Blue Devils entered the NCAA Championships with high hopes of returning from California with the title trophy. Instead the Blue Devils' top player got blown away by the harsh western winds, and Duke struggled home in seventh place, unable to break 314 on any of the four days.
Kathi Poppmeier, Trinity '96, who entered the tournament ranked No. 11 in the country, struggled throughout the four days. She opened with an 83 and 85 in her first two rounds, and then rebounded in the third with a 73. But on the final day with the Blue Devils trailing by nine strokes, Duke's No. 1 player shot another 83.
"I was not happy with Kathi's performance," Blue Devil head coach Dan Brooks said. "That was a disappointment. Prior to that championship, she only shot one round in the 80's and that was an 80."
Duke's top scorer was sophomore Jenny Chuasiriporn. She finished tied for 19th with a four-day total of 313.
"I was not disappointed attitude-wise or work-ethic wise," Brooks said. "They were all very , very dedicated to what we were trying to accomplish. They all talked about winning and never lost sight of that possibility."
Duke won the NCAA East Regional May 9-11 to advance to the championships. It captured the regional with a school-record two straight sub-300 rounds. The Blue Devils ended the tournament with a 298 and a 299 on the final two days, finishing eight strokes ahead of Wake Forest, which placed second.
Duke was led by junior Alicia Allison, who finished in a tie for fifth overall. Allison finished with two straight rounds of even-par 72 to go with the 78 that she carded on the first day.
The strength of Duke's score came as it has all year-through solid play from all four scoring golfers. Three strokes behind Allison at 225 was Poppmeier, who cut two strokes off her score every day after opening with a first-round 77. Only one stroke behind Poppmeier came Chuasiriporn at 226, who finished in 12th place overall.
Senior Liz Lepanto led the Blue Devils on the first day with a four-over par 76, and she finished the tournament tied for 26th at 232.
The end of the team's season did not mean the end of competitive play for Allison, however. She advanced to the finals of the North and South Amateur Tournament, a match play tourney. Her second place finish capped an impressive year for Allison.
Men's golf: The Blue Devils' season ended at the NCAA East Regional Tournament at the Concord Resort Monster Golf Course.
The team finished 17th out of 23 teams in a strong field, despite what head coach Rod Myers called "horrendous weather" on the opening day of the tourney.
The team hurt itself most the first day by shooting an almost crippling 320.
Thursday's weather proved to be a vast improvement, with sunny temperatures reaching into the 70s. Officials shortened the course, making it a little bit easier for the collegiate golfers. The Blue Devils turned in the 4th best score for the day, keeping them competitive heading into the final day of the tournament.
Duke's highest finisher in the tournament was senior Jason Buha, who tied for 20th with 76 strokes. "He played solid all along. If the team didn't make it to the tournament, he had a good chance to make it individually," Myers said.
"He just had that one bad shot on a par 5. He lost it in the woods and had a short putt. We didn't putt well all weekend." Myers said that despite the one bad shot, Buha is poised to be next season's team leader.
Blue Devil senior Justin Klein finished tied for 61st with 80 strokes, and junior Chris Schmid finished tied for 89th place with a score of 83.
Baseball: Duke's season came to an end at the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament with a 7-3 loss to Florida State. The team finished with a 39-18 overall record, and seventh in the ACC with a 9-14 mark.
"What a great year we had," head coach Steve Traylor said. "We tied a school record for wins with 39, and we tried like heck to get to 40. We won a tournament game, lost to the top two seeds and, I think, showed people that we've got a competitive baseball program."
The Blue Devils dropped their opening tournament game to Clemson and pitcher Kris Benson, the first selection in the Major League draft. They came back later in the day to dismantle arch rival North Carolina, 13-3.
After the season, 4 Duke players received a chance to fulfill their childhood dreams as they were selected in the major league draft.
Leading the way was lefthanded pitcher Scott Schoeneweis, Trinity '96, who was selected in the third round by the California Angels. The last time a Duke player was drafted that high was in 1976 when the New York Mets took outfielder Steve Kresses in the first round.
Relief pitcher David Darwin was picked by the Detroit Tigers in the 26th round. He signed quickly after being drafted and was assigned to the Fayetteville Generals of the South Atlantic league, a low A-ball affiliate of the Tigers.
Mike King, Trinity '96, became a part of baseball history when he was selected in the 40th round by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. This was the first year in the draft for the Devil Rays, who begin play in 1998.
Right handed pitcher Richard Dishman was the last Blue Devil selected. The San Francisco Giants picked the underclassman in the 42nd round. Academically, Dishman is a rising senior, but he red-shirted his sophomore year, so he still has two years of eligibility remaining. As of now, Dishman remains unsigned with the intention of staying with the Blue Devils.
Women's lacrosse: The team ended its inaugural season by defeating Davidson 15-10 on the road, to finish with a 3-12 overall record. Sophomore Payton Black led the way in the final game, netting a season team high five goals. The season ended on a particularly high note for head coach Kirsten Kimel who came to Durham from Davidson.
The Blue Devils' other two wins on the year came against Maryland-Baltimore County and Stanford.
The team's leading scorer on the season was sophomore Meghan McLaughlin who finished with 23 goals and a total of 27 points. Black, who did not join the team until the eighth game of the season, finished as the team's third leading scorer, netting 16 goals on only 32 shot attempts.
Men's lacrosse: The team won its final game of the season, dismantling 20th ranked Hobart, 20-5. With the win, Duke finished 6-6 on the year and ended the season ranked 16th in the nation. This was the sixth year in a row that the Blue Devils finished ranked in the top 20, but the .500 record was not enough to earn an NCAA tournament bid.
Despite the somewhat disappointing season, several players received recognition for their individual accomplishments. Midfielder Scott Diggs received the ACC rookie of the year award, the first time a Duke player has done so. Seniors Jim Gonella and Tyler Hardy were named all-conference performers and were both also named to the All-America squad. Gonella received third team honors, while Hardy earned a spot on the first team.
Hardy capped a stellar season by being named William F. Schmeisser Division I Defensive Player of the Year. "The fact that we were a 6-6 team and didn't make the NCAA Tournament and got a Player of the Year [award] shows how highly regarded Tyler was by the rest of the coaches this year," Duke lacrosse head coach Mike Pressler said. "In my mind, it solidifies the fact that Tyler is the best defenseman in the country."
Women's track: Several of the team's relay squads finished the year by competing at the Penn Relays, April 24-27. Both the women's distance medley and 4X800 relay teams had qualified for the championships. The 4X800 team finished in 8th place, out of approximately 15 qualifying squads.
Junior Kim Voyticky extended her season by running in the 800 meters in a meet at Georgia Tech on May 25. Voyticky also was invited to run at the Gold Rush track meet at Duke on July 13 (for full story see page 24).
Men's track: Sophomore Jesse Allen broke the Duke record with his 51.22 second showing in the trials of the 400-meter hurdles at the Intercollegiate Association of Amateur Athletes of America. Allen placed fifth in the event, earning Duke its only four points of the meet and garnering All-East honors.
Besides Allen, several other Duke runners also competed at the IC4A meet. senior Matt Haywood placed 15th in the 3,000-meter steeplechase on Sunday with his 9:21.02 performance.
Doug Kling, Trinity '96, completed his illustrious Duke track career with a 1:51.87 showing in the semifinals of the 800 meters on Saturday. Kling's run placed him fifth in his heat, but it was not fast enough to qualify him for the finals in a strong field.
Seniors Darin Mellinger and Brett Marcus ran the 10,000 meters. Mellinger placed 14th in 31:22.07, and Marcus was 25th in 32:10.24.
Allen's time qualified him for Junior National competition, but he did not compete due to a hamstring injury.
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