The women's tennis team moved from indoor play to outdoor competition this weekend, but the results were still the same.
The third-ranked Blue Devils beat No. 11 William & Mary, 5-3, indoors on Saturday, then moved to the Duke Tennis Stadium Sunday and took care of business against Indiana, 7-2. The wins improved the Blue Devils' record to 8-1 on the season.
Saturday Duke faced a squad which it had beaten just one week earlier at the Rolex Team Indoor Championships. While the Blue Devils were 7-1 victors the first time around, this time they dropped two more individual matches while still picking up the overall nod.
At No. 1 singles, junior Vanessa Webb avenged her defeat of a week ago by beating 12th-ranked Lauren Nikolaus, 1-6, 7-6 (7-4), 6-4. Webb rallied from 2-4 in the third to take the match.
"It's really what I was thinking about all week," said Webb, who is currently No. 7 in the nation. "It's what I was gearing towards. I knew that I had to play aggressive, because she played more aggressive last time when she beat me. I knew it was going to be a battle."
Duke got more team points from singles victories by junior Karen Goldstein and freshmen Megan Miller and Kathy Sell. The No. 2 doubles team scored the match-clinching point when junior Kristin Sanderson and Miller defeated Tari Ann Toro and Laura Tsaggaris of William & Mary, 8-4.
On Sunday, Webb and Goldstein avenged a rare loss Saturday, easily dispensing of Hoosiers Kelly Blanch and Correne Stout, 8-1.
"[Saturday] we started off really badly," Goldstein said. "[Sunday] we just came out and took care of business. We played to win and did what we had to do."
While the overall team score indicated a blowout, most of the individual matches were quite close. Highlighting the match was a gritty 6-4, 7-5 victory over Zahra Ahamed by Sanderson at No. 2 singles and a 7-5, 7-5 victory by Sell at No. 4.
"[Ahamed] was a tough player to play because she hits so many slice backhands," Sanderson said. "You can't really step up and hit those balls. You have to wait until she hits a short ball. I think I did what I had to do. But I don't think I played my best tennis."
Laura Zifer and Ellen McCance, who was playing her first match of the season, each chipped in with wins at Nos. 5 and six singles, respectively. Miller and Sandserson added an 8-4 doubles win to give Duke its seventh point.
"We played okay," coach Jamie Ashworth said. "This was our first match outside. When you play outside, there's a lot of things you have to get used to. It's not a controlled environment, and we struggled with that."
Indiana got its two points at No. 3 singles, where Blanch beat Goldstein 6-4, 7-5, and at third doubles, where Rebecca Wallihan and Kelly Fitzgerald beat Sell and Seibel 9-8 (8-6). Sell and Seibel overcame a 7-2 deficit to tie the match at seven games, only to lose in the tiebreaker.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.