STANFORD, Calif. - One year later, the story is still the same: Duke can beat anyone in the country, save the very best.
For the second consecutive year, the women's tennis team (24-4) saw its season come to an abrupt end at the hands of perennially powerful Stanford in the semifinals of the NCAA team tournament. The Cardinal (30-1), who went on to defeat Florida for the title on Sunday, stormed out of the gate against the Blue Devils and cruised to a 5-1 victory Saturday afternoon at the Taube Family Tennis Stadium at Stanford University in Stanford, Calif.
The trip to the Final Four marked just the third time in school history that Duke had advanced to the national semifinals, the other two years being 1992 and '96.
Senior Wendy Fix garnered Duke's lone point on the day, with a stunning three-set victory at third singles over the nation's top-ranked player, Katie Schlukebir. But the rest of the afternoon was not so rewarding for the Blue Devils, as the Cardinal won the first set in five out of the six singles matches and rode the momentum to the win. Stanford's fast start put Duke in a position which it had forced its opponents into earlier on.
"That's what we've been doing all week to other people," Duke coach Jamie Ashworth said. "The start that Stanford got off to put us on our heels from the start. Once we settled down, the matches were close, but we were in too big of a hole.
"My girls have told me that all week, they've been looking up at the scoreboard and feeding off of the scores they see, and of course they couldn't do that today."
The Blue Devils possessed plenty of confidence heading into the match that they would be able to turn the tables on their 5-2 semifinal loss in '96, boasting two of the nation's toughest singles players in sophomore Vanessa Webb (No. 10) and freshman Karin Miller (No. 3). Both had held the No. 1 ranking during the year and had appeared near unbeatable throughout the year.
In addition, Duke's three doubles pairs were all ranked in the top-30 nationally, a strength the Blue Devils hoped to take advantage of with Stanford. But the Cardinal avoided doubles play by closing out the match in singles.
What Duke had also failed to figure on was a trio of talented Cardinal freshmen who more than rose to the occasion to key the Stanford win.
Lilia Osterloh, ranked 13th, led the way by dismantling the previously undefeated Webb at first singles, using her devastating forehand to keep Webb and her deadly serve-and-volley game off balance all day.
Osterloh broke Webb twice in the first set to claim a 6-2 triumph and jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the second set. Webb responded by roaring back to take the next four games. Osterloh met Webb's challenge, however, and closed out both Webb and the match, 6-4.
"Lilia had a great classic matchup with Vanessa Webb, who's a serve and volleyer, and Lilia, who has got probably the best single shot in college tennis, which is her forehand," Stanford coach Frank Brennan said. "It was great to see her forehand against Vanessa coming into the net."
On the neighboring second court, Miller suffered through one of her most frustrating matches in recent memory as Anne Kremer beat her at her own game. Kremer played what both Ashworth and Brennan referred to as an extremely smart game against the seasoned, patient Miller.
Kremer, the six-time national champion of Luxembourg and 26th-ranked collegiate player, combined her quickness on the baseline and her power at the net in a cunning manner that kept Miller off balance and frustrated all day.
"Anne Kremer I think matched up well with Karin Miller," Brennan said. "Miller is a very smart player who is quick and gets around the court well. Anne is the same type of player.... Anne got to some balls today where I think Karin Miller was like, 'Wow, nobody's got to that ball all year.'"
After falling 6-4 in the first set, Miller trailed only 2-1 in the second set when she lost her composure after a tough point; a subsequent verbal outburst resulted in her receiving her second penalty of the match, which caused the game to be awarded to Stanford. Miller could not recover and lost the second set, 6-4.
"Karin Miller has unbelievable experience, but I think [the penalty] did affect her, even though it shouldn't have," Ashworth said. "She knows better than that-she was ranked up to 150 in the world at one point-and she was upset with herself after the match for having let it bother her."
With two matches decided, Duke already trailed 2-0 with its two most powerful and dependable weapons already eliminated.
"To be honest, I was a little surprised, I thought we'd do better at one and two," Ashworth said. "We've banked on that all year, and they've come through all year. We haven't had a day all season when they've both lost, so I was a little surprised by that."
The third Cardinal freshman, Teryn Ashley, also performed well under pressure, sealing the match for Stanford by closing out Kristin Sanderson in three sets at No. 6 singles.
With Stanford up 4-1, the crowd converged on court six to watch the conclusion of the match. Sanderson had garnered the Blue Devils lone first-set victory, 6-4, but dropped the second 6-2. The fans arrived just in time to see the 55th-ranked Ashley finish off No. 78 Sanderson, 6-4.
"Teryn got in there earlier this year mainly because of some injuries to some other people," Brennan said. "Now she's 3-0, and she really showed her stuff and made the coach look pretty smart after all."
The sharp and gutsy play of the three freshmen not only answered questions about their mental toughness, but broke the back of a talented and well-prepared Duke team.
"Here you have our three freshman, who were questioned by some people as to whether they could get the job done," Brennan said. "Not only did they get the job done, but the winning match came down to Teryn Ashley, a freshman. I think they answered the question of whether they get tight under pressure."
Following Duke's two losses at the top two singles positions, the Blue Devils' deficit grew to 3-0 when senior Karen O'Sullivan fell in a second-set tiebreaker to Stanford's Julie Scott at No. 5 singles. After losing the first set 6-1 and falling behind in the second, O'Sullivan clawed her way back to 6-6 but couldn't complete the comeback to force a third set against the 23rd-ranked Scott. The loss was a historic one for O'Sullivan-her first in a singles match in NCSAA competition.
Duke stretched the remaining three singles matches into three sets, and for a brief moment it appeared as though the Blue Devils might even the score.
"In the third sets at one time, we were at four-all on one court, five-all on another and Wendy Fix was up 5-2," Ashworth said. "In a matter of five minutes the match could've been three-all or 5-0."
In No. 3 singles, the 50th-ranked Fix rallied from a 2-6 loss in the first set to claim the second two sets 6-3 and 6-2, respectively, shocking the top-ranked Schlukebir.
"It wasn't the best tennis I've seen Wendy play-it was some of the smartest tennis," Ashworth said. "Wendy could be one of the most improved players in the country this year. She is an unbelievable athlete, but she has really wanted it more this year."
Just as Fix was giving Duke hope with her win, Stanford's Sandra De Silva, ranked 22nd, pulled out a 6-1, 4-6, 7-5 win over No. 59 Luanne Spadea at No. 4 singles.
"One of the toughest matches today I thought was Sandra DeSilva's win over Luanne Spadea," Brennan said. "Spadea kept the moonballs coming back and forth, and I can tell you that Sandra does not like that. It was tough on her, but she really showed her stuff today, and I'm quite proud of her."
The loss dropped Duke's all-time record in NCAA competition to 11-9.
Duke advanced to the semifinals by cruising past 11th-ranked California (16-8) 5-0 on Friday. The sweep was highlighted by O'Sullivan's 6-4, 6-3 win over the Bears' Stephanie Tibbits at No. 5 singles. The win was the 100th singles victory of O'Sullivan's career, marking the ninth time in school history that a Blue Devil has reached the century mark.
"It's a great feeling to reach 100 in NCAAs," O'Sullivan said. "It's been a real honor to be a part of this club at Duke. Being a senior and graduating, and this being my last tournament, it is quite a way to leave Duke."
Webb and Fix made quick work of their opponents in first and third singles, respectively. Webb dominated No. 25 Amanda Augustus 6-2, 6-0 in just over an hour, and Fix finished up minutes later, crushing No. 47 Esther Knox, 6-1, 6-2. Sanderson ran her win streak to seven matches by sweeping 91st-ranked Lisa Swierniak, 6-4, 6-0, at the sixth spot, and Spadea rounded out the scoring by bouncing back from a rough second set to down Claire Curran, 6-3, 2-6, 6-1, at No. 4.
The Blue Devils began the first day of competition by easily dismissing No. 14 Pepperdine (17-8), 5-0. Webb rolled over No. 17 Isabela Petrov 6-0, 6-4 at No. 1 singles while seniors Fix, Spadea and O'Sullivan downed their opponents at third, fourth and fifth singles respectively. Fix needed three sets to take care of Angela Lawerence, 3-6, 6-2, 6-3, while Spadea knocked off Karoline Borgerson with little trouble, 6-0, 6-3 and O'Sullivan spanked Nadine Rastetter, 6-4, 6-1. Sanderson finished out the scoring by downing Anna Svedenhov at No. 6 singles, 6-3, 3-6, 6-2.
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