There will be a time when the women's tennis team loses an ACC match. A day will come when talent alone will not be enough for Duke to get by, when tenacity and toughness will be needed for the Blue Devils to pull away with a 'W.'
That day didn't come yesterday.
Though their coach expressed disappointment with his team's play, the second-ranked Blue Devils (12-3, 1-0 in the ACC) opened up conference play by going out and crushing No. 27 North Carolina (9-4, 0-1) in Chapel Hill yesterday by a 9-0 score.
"I don't think we played as well as we can play at all," coach Jamie Ashworth said. "UNC competed better than we did. UNC played harder. We were just more talented. That's the only reason we won."
With a conference winning streak which stretches longer than a decade, the Blue Devils know that they are the mighty Goliath which every potential David will be trying to knock down.
"This was their biggest match of the year," said sophomore Kathy Sell, who won her match by a 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 score. "We should hope that they come out and play their best. For them to play their best will only make us better in the long run. We know that our opponents are going to fight hard every time."
Sell was not the only Blue Devil to be taken to three sets by the Tar Heels. Second-singles player Karen Goldstein dropped the first set of her match before rallying to a 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 victory.
"This was good, because for the rest of the ACC matches, it makes us tougher," Goldstein said. "They weren't really intimidated by Duke. I felt like they played us really well. I'm glad this match happened now. You learn from bad matches. I'd be surprised if many of us went to three sets after this."
Ashworth called it "frustrating" that he felt his team was relying on its talent too much, taking for granted that this monumental ACC winning streak will continue.
"We're expecting teams to roll over instead of knowing we're going to get our opponents' best match," Ashworth said. "I think we learned from this, and I think we can be better because of it."
Ashworth, who believes doubles play could be his team's Achilles heel this year, kept his doubles lineup the same as in the team's previous match against Wisconsin. Vanessa Webb and Goldstein played No. 1 doubles, with Megan Miller joining Sell at No. 2. Senior Kristin Sanderson and junior Brooke Seibel teamed up at third doubles.
"It seems like people are communicating well," Ashworth said. "You can see little improvements coming slowly. It'll take a while. But that's what could hold us back in the NCAAs, so we'll continue to work at it until we get it right."
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