Sometimes, even your best shots can fall short.
This weekend, plagued with illness and injury, the women's tennis team learned this lesson the hard way.
After pummeling Vanderbilt in the first round and edging past UCLA in the second round, No. 3 Duke fell to second-ranked Stanford (11-0) in the semifinals of the USTA/ITA National Team Indoor Championship.
In the second round on Friday, Duke (5-2) and No. 7 UCLA (3-3) split the singles matches. Freshman Karin Miller crushed Kati Kocsis, 7-6, 6-1. Blue Devil seniors Wendy Fix and Luanne Spadea followed Miller's lead, defeating the Bruins' Elizabeth Schmidt (6-2, 6-0) and Annica Cooper (6-4, 4-6, 7-5), respectively.
But UCLA was not ready to throw in the towel just yet. The Bruins rallied to take the No. 4, 5 and 6 singles spots and tie the contest as Kelly Rudolph, Katia Roubanova and Brandi Freudenberg put away Duke's Karen O'Sullivan, Kristin Sanderson and Diana Spadea.
It was the doubles action that decided the match for Duke. After the duo of Roubanova and Schmidt defeated O'Sullivan and Luanne Spadea, Duke's No. 2 and No. 3 doubles teams came to the rescue. Miller and Diana Spadea took out Cooper and Kocsis, 9-7, and Fix and Sanderson, who is battling an ankle injury, annihilated Freudenberg and Rudolph, 8-5, to secure the second round victory, 4-3, for the Blue Devils.
"We've never done that well in the past four years," O'Sullivan said. "Stanford beat us last year, having the chance to play them was really big. The close win over UCLA and advancing to play Stanford in the semis was the high point of the tournament."
Duke did not fare as well when it faced Stanford in the semifinal round on Saturday, suffering a 5-1 loss. The Cardinal's duo of Ania Bleszynski and Julie Scott clubbed O'Sullivan and Luanne Spadea at No. 1 doubles, and Teryn Ashley and Katie Schlukebir overpowered Miller and Diana Spadea to sweep the doubles event.
Fix garnered Duke's only point of the semifinal round, defeating Sandra DeSilva in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3, at No. 2 singles. Miller, Luanne Spadea, Sanderson and junior Ellen McCance all dropped their singles matches. Miller's loss to Schlukebir at No. 1 singles, a close 6-2, 2-6, 7-6 match, was only her fourth of the year. Anne Kremer's 6-1, 6-3 victory over Luanne Spadea at the No. 2 spot was the deciding match of the semifinal round.
Although Duke could not overcome a talented Cardinal squad, it had to overcome adversity to advance as far as it did. The Blue Devils have been playing without their top player, Vanessa Webb. The No. 1 ranked sophomore is currently undergoing rehabilitation from a shoulder injury and is expected to be out until Mar. 5.
"Vanessa adds to the team not only with her tennis but also with her attitude," O'Sullivan said. "Just her presence is a huge factor for us."
In addition to the absence of Webb, Duke had a few other obstacles to overcome. When the Blue Devils arrived in Madison, Wis., they had to get used to playing in an unfamiliar setting. Lacking an indoor court of their own, the Blue Devils did not get as much practice inside as most of the other teams playing in the National Team Indoors, which put them at a disadvantage.
"Compared with other teams, they have indoor courts and they get to practice more," O'Sullivan said. "Since we don't have indoor courts, playing on an indoor court takes a little bit away from the team."
The National Team Indoors marks the end of Duke's indoor season, and arguably its most important competition before the NCAA tournament in May. Starting next weekend, the Blue Devils will play in outdoor dual matches, which will culminate in the NCAAs. Although the Blue Devils were disappointed with the outcome of this weekend's action, they feel that they will bounce back to be a force to contend with in the outdoor season.
"This is our biggest tournament until the NCAAs," O'Sullivan said. "We had a goal to do well, but we fell short. We tried to do our best, and we know what we need to work on in order to improve our play.... Once everyone is 100%, our team can do some damage; we can show everyone what we're made of."
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