The women's tennis team, currently No. 3 in the country, will have the opportunity to prove it deserves its high ranking as it battles the nation's elite programs at the National Team Indoors in Madison, Wis., this weekend.
The 3-1 Blue Devils, who are coming off two convincing dual match victories last weekend, will face their toughest competition of the season, in what Duke coach Jody Hyden calls the "NCAA indoor championship." The tournament features 16 of the top 21 teams in the country, including first-ranked Florida and second-ranked Stanford, which are also seeded one and two, just ahead of the Blue Devils.
"As far as the rest of our season, it doesn't hinge on this tournament," Hyden said. "It's early and we haven't played that many indoor matches, which is a problem.... It'll give us matches and court time, even if we have to fly to Wisconsin. We'll get to play good teams so it'll be a good indication of where you are, what you need to work on, what you're doing well."
Duke will face No. 15 Vanderbilt tomorrow at 11:30 a.m. in the first round of the tournament. The winner of that match will take on either seventh-ranked UCLA or ninth-ranked William & Mary-which beat the Blue Devils on Feb. 2-Friday morning.
Duke will be without its top player and the nation's No. 1 ranked player, sophomore Vanessa Webb, who is out until Mar. 5 with a shoulder injury. But Hyden said he wasn't overly worried about her absence's effect on his team.
"I wish we had all our players, it would make us more confident as a team," the coach said. "But I'm pretty confident in this team right now. These could be the people playing for the rest of the season, or other people could be out.."
One of the reasons for Hyden's lack of concern is freshman Karin Miller, who is ranked ninth in the nation. Miller won the Rolex National Indoor Collegiate Tournament on Feb. 9, and swept both of her matches over the weekend, filling in for Webb at the No. 1 spot.
Duke's depth has prevented it from struggling in the wake of injuries to key performers, and Hyden sees it as one of his team's strengths heading into this weekend's tournament. Sophomore Kristin Sanderson has been bothered by an ankle injury which has kept her out of singles action so far this winter, while senior Wendy Fix sat out Saturday.
"We have a lot of really good players at every position," Hyden said. "We proved our depth this weekend, beating BYU with three players out. That's pretty impressive. That's one of our strengths and also that we have four seniors which helps us with their experience."
Another plus for the Blue Devils is that the tournament will be scored in the men's format, with the doubles teams-an area where Duke is strong-competing first. Hyden said that his lineup wouldn't be set until the team arrived in Madison and would depend on players' health and abilities on the indoor surface.
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