For the remaining ACC teams scheduled to take on the second-ranked women's tennis team this season, their slim chances of upsetting Duke just went from bad to worse.
All year long, the one perceived chink in the armor of the Blue Devils (15-3, 4-0 in the ACC) was the lack of consistent play from their doubles teams.
Wednesday, playing in an ACC match against N.C. State (9-5, 0-3), Duke took a step in the right direction by turning in what coach Jamie Ashworth described as the best doubles performance of the year.
After the Blue Devils cruised to a 9-0 victory over the Wolfpack and stretched its ACC win streak to 106 in a row, Ashworth sang the praises of his doubles teams.
"It was the first time all year that we came out and dominated a team," Ashworth said. "Especially our doubles [teams].... Our doubles was fundamentally the best we've had all year.
"It was the first time that I have been pleased with our doubles play all year," he continued. "The decision making and the movement-it was the first time all year that it has been good."
With a very talented roster, Ashworth has had to tinker with different combinations to get just the right chemistry for his three doubles teams.
Wednesday, it was Vanessa Webb and Karen Goldstein in the top spot as usual, Erica Biro and Brooke Siebel at No. 2 and Kathy Sell and Megan Miller at No. 3 that proved to be the right combination. Each team won its match comfortably, losing a combined three games.
"Wednesday was the first day that things ran really smoothly for doubles," said senior Karen Goldstein. "It was not so much that we won, but that our doubles teams were a good match."
Indeed, it seems that Ashworth has focused on this aspect of his team's play not just to beat ACC teams by a larger margin, but for tougher matches down the road that will prove to be much more difficult.
Florida, the team that Duke will probably have to beat if it hopes to win the national championship, pulled out a close victory over the Blue Devils earlier this year by winning the matchup in doubles after the two teams split the singles matches.
"A lot of times it comes down to doubles in close matches like [the Florida match]," said freshman Erica Biro. "I think we have found the chemistry that we have been lacking."
Duke will have a chance to test out its newly discovered chemistry in another ACC matchup today when Florida State travels north to take on the Blue Devils.
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