For anyone who may have forgotten just whom the dominant team is in ACC women's tennis, consider this a subtle reminder.
Led by reigning NCAA singles champion Vanessa Webb, the 11-time defending ACC champion Blue Devils stormed through the ACC Indoor Tournament in Chapel Hill this weekend, placing three players in the singles semi-finals and claiming both spots in the doubles finals.
And lest anyone forget who the most dominant player is on the league's most dominant team, Webb's pair of championships in Monday's finals-teaming with Karen Goldstein to win the doubles title-were probably example enough.
"[Webb] played really well this weekend," coach Jamie Ashworth said. "I think she has definitely established herself as the top player in the ACC and among the top in country. She's as good as anybody."
The three time All-American faced little resistance in her path to the final. Seeded No. 2 in the tournament, the serve-volley artist only once dropped more than 3 games in a set, eventually defeating the tournaments top-seed, Mariel Verban of Wake Forest, for the title. In her semifinal match, Webb knocked off teammate Kristin Sanderson.
For Webb, who has spent the previous two months playing on the WTA Tour in Australia, the win was a big welcome back to the ITA.
"She's definitely in prime shape to compete," Ashworth said. "You can tell she's done a lot of things to improve. She's put herself in great tennis shape. She's in better match shape than 95 percent of the country. That's good for her good for and it's good for the rest of the team to see that.... A lot of people use January and February to get in matches to prepare for [the indoor tournaments], so she's a step ahead."
Duke came within one match of filling the singles final as well. Sophomore Megan Miller, who's ranking jumped 20 spots to No. 15 in the latest ITA poll, battled through to the semi-finals before succumbing to Verban.
It was a pair of Blue Devil doubles squads who slugged it out in Monday's final, however. Seniors Webb and Goldstein, formerly the nation's top tandem, blitzed sophomores Miller and Kathy Sell, 8-3. For Goldstein and Webb, the match marked the first time since October the two have played together.
"All four of our doubles team played well," Ashworth said. "They showed we have the ability to win doubles matches against top-10 teams.... It was really good for [Webb and Goldstein], since they haven't played together recently, to get back on the court, to remember how to play with each other."
Even the Duke losers turned out to be winners. After falling in the opening-round to Paige Boiko, Virginia's top player, Sell rebounded to grab the consolation singles title.
"[This tournament] shows how much depth we have," Ashworth said. "The people that play low in our lineup are competing against the No. 1 and No. 2 players elsewhere. That puts fear into them, it takes away confidence before we ever hit a ball."
On a team where the best competition throughout the conference season generally comes in practice, the Indoors provided plenty of competition as Duke netters squared off against each other repeatedly in the draw.
But with his team now poised to enter the Rolex Indoor Championships and the Team Indoor Championships in February, Ashworth couldn't be happier with his club's performance and preparation.
"Playing their teammates in a pressure situation made this tournament competitive. We had a lot of matches against one another, that's going to prepare us more than everything else. We can do it in practice, but here we had match pressure.... I think this is the best team Duke has ever had. [The team] believes that and they're ready to take another step on the national level."
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