The third-ranked women's tennis team took care of business over the weekend, handily defeating two Atlantic Coast Conference opponents.
Duke (10-2, 3-0 in the ACC) knocked off Georgia Tech on Saturday and Clemson on Sunday in a pair of road matches.
"We're stronger than both of the teams we played this weekend," Blue Devils coach Jody Hyden said. "Georgia Tech is stronger this year than in the past, and Clemson has a very young team. Both teams are just a step below us right now."
Duke started out the weekend by sweeping the Yellow Jackets, 9-0, Saturday in Atlanta. Freshman Karin Miller, seniors Luanne Spadea, Diana Spadea and Karen O'Sullivan, sophomore Kristin Sanderson and freshman Brooke Siebel all collected straight-set victories in singles. In doubles, the tandems of O'Sullivan and Luanne Spadea, Miller and Diana Spadea and Sanderson and senior Wendy Fix lost a total of only five games.
On Sunday Duke was almost as impressive, losing just one match, at No. 6 singles, in its 8-1 conquest of the Tigers. All five of Duke's singles wins were in straight sets, and only once did a Clemson player capture more than two games in a set. Miller, Luanne Spadea, O'Sullivan, Diana Spadea and Sanderson all posted wins for Duke, and the Blue Devils once again swept the three doubles matches.
Duke came into the weekend as a heavy favorite against both schools, and its players used the matches to work on specific aspects of their game.
"Our goal for the weekend was to work on getting comfortable in playing long points," Hyden said. "I think our team did a good job working on those things."
Despite their obvious edge, the Blue Devils avoided a letdown, losing only two sets the entire weekend.
"I just try to stay focused on the ball and the point," Miller said. "Sometimes it can be hard to keep concentration, but I think I did a pretty good job of focusing on the point at hand."
Duke has become accustomed to scoring ACC victories-it's the nine-time defending conference champion and has won 83 straight ACC matches. But in the next nine days the Blue Devils will be tested by tough non-conference opponents, as they sandwich matches Sunday at No. 5 Texas and Mar. 19 at No. 1 Florida around a Mar. 18 trip to Florida State.
"The level of competition is going to pick up," Hyden said. "This week in practice, we're going to work on our fitness. We have really tough matches coming up this week. Our improvement is going to be pushed along quite well."
Duke should have sophomore Vanessa Webb, who began the season as the top-ranked player in the nation, back in time for Texas. Webb has been out since Feb. 1 with a shoulder injury. The Blue Devils have compiled a 10-2 record without her, with the two losses coming to top-10 teams. Miller, who jumped from ninth to second in the recently released national rankings, has stepped up successfully into the No. 1 singles spot.
"We have a lot of depth," Miller said. "We have some great girls who work hard. Vanessa is a nice addition to that, but we have a lot of strong people."
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