Sometimes, you just can't buy a break. Next week, this will be the case for the women's tennis team.
While most Dukies head home or travel to exotic locales for spring break, the No. 3 Blue Devils will spend the week competing in three crucial matches. First, they will travel to Texas on Mar. 16 to take on the No. 5 Longhorns. Two days later, they will head to the Sunshine State, facing Florida State on Mar. 18 and Florida the following day.
The Gators present Duke with its most formidable opponent. Ranked No. 1 in the NCAA, they seemingly possess both a physical and a mental edge over their opponents.
"Florida's definitely going to be our toughest competition," Duke sophomore Kristin Sanderson said. "We're playing at Florida, they play really well on their home court and we've sort of had a block against them. Florida intimidates a lot of teams because they play with a lot of confidence.
"They go out there as if they know they'll win, and the fact that they're number one adds to the intimidation."
Leading the Gators is Dawn Buth, the sixth-ranked singles player in the nation. Buth also teams up with Stephanie Nickitas to form the fourth-best doubles team in the NCAA.
Duke's battle with Florida will be one of its most critical contests of the season. A victory would signify the realization of a dream for the Blue Devils.
"One of our goals for the season was to beat Florida and Stanford," Sanderson said. "We lost to Stanford at National Team Indoors, so beating Florida is one goal we really want to accomplish."
While Florida may be the most challenging foe Duke faces during spring break, Texas is not to be overlooked. The Longhorns have a plethora of weapons in their arsenal, including seventh-ranked singles player Cristina Moros and the eighth-ranked tandem of Laura Berendt and Sandy Sureephong at doubles.
Although the Blue Devils will contend with some of the most talented college players in the country, they intend to concentrate not on knocking off individual players, but on working as a unit to bring three victories home.
"Basically, every point counts," senior Karen O'Sullivan said. "We're going to go after the teams we play as a whole. There isn't any one player we're trying to beat."
Duke's matchup with Florida St., its only Atlantic Coast Conference contest of the week, promises to be something of a break for the Blue Devils. Duke stands at the top of the ACC, having won 83 consecutive conference matches.
As the Seminoles rest at fifth in the ACC [which is not a very strong conference in tennis] the Blue Devils believe that they can gain their 84th straight with flying colors.
One factor that could aid Duke in its quest for victory is the return of sophomore Vanessa Webb. The top-ranked singles player in the fall, Webb has been sidelined with a shoulder injury since the beginning of the spring semester. She will hit the courts in Duke's matchup with Texas, playing doubles, and is expected to return to singles action later this month.
Although Duke has not faced any of the top teams in the nation since the National Team Indoors almost a month ago, it is looking forward to taking on the tougher competition and playing on a higher level. That level begins this weekend.
"In order to win, I think we have to keep working on the same things we've been working on all season," O'Sullivan said. "We want to go out and play aggressively and have a good strategy. Right now everyone's playing pretty well. We're all fit, confident and focused on the task at hand."
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