The mathematician Xeno made a name for himself in ancient Greece by identifying the paradox that now bears his name-in traveling from point to point, one can never actually arrive at a given point because there exists an infinite sum of halves between. The problem, though, was he could not prove it.
He should have waited about 2000 years.
The women's tennis team inched itself closer to a national team title, leading the Florida Gators (9-0) through most of the championship match of the National Team Indoors before falling 5-4 to the reigning NCAA champions at the Nielsen Tennis Center in Madison, Wisc.
The loss marked the Blue Devils' (7-2) third straight appearance and third straight loss in the finals of a national team tournament. Duke lost to Florida in the NCAA tournament last year and to Stanford at this same tournament a year ago.
"Before the match I told everyone to make sure they left everything on the court physically and emotionally, and they did," Duke coach Jamie Ashworth said. "We are disappointed for sure, but we lost here last year to Stanford in the finals and came back and beat them at NCAAs. We understand it's a learning experience."
Although Florida holds a 20-1 series advantage over Duke and is the nation's top-ranked team, Gators head coach Andy Brandi viewed the win as an upset.
"The creator of the discipline of martial arts-wado kai-that I do said 'The impossible is possible if you have the will.,' Brandi said. "That happened today."
Despite Brandi's wado kai, the Blue Devils nearly swept Florida out of the finals as easily as they did their first three opponents, to whom they dropped just one point each.
A trio of victories by Duke's top three seeds pushed the Blue Devils out to an early 3-1 advantage, but when the Duke victory seemed halfway home, the title became that much further away.
A straight-set victory by Florida's Traci Green over freshman Erica Biro at No. 5 stemmed the Blue Devil momentum and pulled Florida back within striking distance.
"Traci Green played unbelievable in both singles and doubles," Ashworth said. "Before the match, I thought that might be a place where we can win in singles and doubles. She could easily be their MVP today."
Duke got another chance to end Florida's 35-match win streak in the doubles slate. After the No. 4 ranked team of Vanessa Webb and Karen Goldstein notched the first doubles point at the top seed, Duke led 4-3.
But as Ashworth had worried about earlier before the tournament, doubles proved to be the Achilles heel of the nation's second-ranked team. Neither Megan Miller and Biro at No. 2 nor Kathy Sell and Brooke Siebel at No. 3 were able to pull out a victory as both of Florida's pairs won by a single break.
Despite having to string together a makeshift lineup after losing No. 3 singles player Stephanie Nickitas to illness, Brandi never worried about his team's chances, even when they came down to an untested doubles team.
"They get along real well," he said of Baili Camino and Jessica Lehnhoff. "Baili has been in this situation before and I knew Jess had the ability. The only time they played together, they played very well."
Even with the disappointment of losing in the finals of the nation's second largest team tournament, Ashworth was not overly concerned about his team's loss.
"We were two points away from winning," Ashworth said. "We did the right things and went for our shots. They just missed."
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