Predictable is no longer the word.
The No. 2 women's tennis team (14-3, 3-0 in the ACC) notched its 104th and 105th consecutive victories over an ACC opponent this weekend, downing Clemson (4-9, 0-1) 8-1 Saturday and No. 28 Georgia Tech (10-4, 1-2) by the same score Sunday.
When the weekend began, both clubs were hoping that this weekend might hold the elusive Duke defeat, something that hasn't occurred in the ACC since a 5-4 loss to perennial conference runner-up Wake Forest in 1989.
And both the Tigers and the Yellow Jackets had reason to believe. For Nancy Harris' Tiger crew, there was the stunning upset of No. 18 Brigham Young earlier this month. For Georgia Tech head coach Sue Hutchinson, her club was riding the emotional wave of the highest ranking in school history.
But when all the ranked players in a match are on the opposing team, motivation sometimes means little.
Although Clemson pushed a trio of Blue Devils-No. 1 Vanessa Webb, No. 4 Karen Goldstein and No. 5 Kathy Sell-to three sets in the singles slate, the Tigers failed to claim a point, deciding the match before Duke coach Jamie Ashworth had to worry about his doubles lineup.
"I'll take our singles lineup against anybody in the nation, and the worst we will come out is 3-3," Ashworth said, repeating the '99 company line last week. "Doubles is where we have to improve to improve as a team."
Which made Sunday's match in Atlanta more intriguing. As the Yellow Jackets have leapt out to the best start in the program's history, they, unlike the Blue Devils, have done it with a solid doubles lineup and a shaky singles effort.
"We need to improve our singles play," Hutchinson said. "We're just not playing as well as we are capable of playing in singles."
So what happens when the nation's top singles lineup takes on the conference's most promising doubles lineup?
Doubles becomes unnecessary.
The Duke netters captured all but one singles point, deciding the match before Ashworth could let the doubles carousel at No. 2 and No. 3 turn again. No. 34 Kristen Sanderson was upset by unranked Mason Miller at second singles, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3.
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