Both tennis teams fall short of goals at NCAAs

ATHENS, Ga. - Doug Root had been in this situation before. The junior, desperately trying to rescue the men's tennis team and its national title dreams in the NCAA quarterfinals on Sunday, could hear teammate Jordan Wile screaming, "Remember Milwaukee!" and understood exactly what he meant. Root trailed Louisiana State's Tom Hand late in the third set of their No. 2 singles match, a match which had already lasted four hours and two rain delays. With the team score tied at 3-3, Root was Duke's last hope. And as Hand served for the match at 5-4, the Blue Devils recalled the 1998 Milwaukee Classic, when Root, then a sophomore, came from behind to defeat Hand in three sets, fighting off multiple match points. "I was thinking maybe he would start remembering that, too," said Root. "You know, just to put a little more pressure on him." But Hand proved equal to the challenge this time, persevering even after the tenacious Root saved two match points and stayed focused as the match moved indoors to avoid the rain. In a dramatic final game, Hand fought off two break points and finally put the Blue Devils away with a hard forehand volley for a 6-7, 6-4, 6-4 decision and a 4-3 LSU victory. "I felt like I came up with some good shots to keep the pressure on him," Root said. "But he didn't really miss any easy balls or anything. He just played well." The tense battle at No. 2 singles was the match of the day at the University of Georgia's Dan Magill Tennis Center, but that was little consolation for the Blue Devils, who missed out on a chance to reach the NCAA Final Four for the first time in school history. "I feel this is the best team we've [ever] had," Duke coach Jay Lapidus said. "I thought we had a legitimate chance to win it [all]." Easy singles victories from Pedro Escudero (No. 3), Ramsey Smith (No. 4), and Andres Pedroso (No. 5) weren't enough to save the Blue Devils, who lost the doubles point Sunday for just the third time all year. Duke's school-record 19-match winning streak also came to an end. "Root has won a lot of big matches for us," Lapidus said. "Two years ago he won a [clinching] match in the Regionals when he was down a break in the third and came back. He's definitely one of the guys I'd like to have out there in that situation." LSU's run ended in the semifinals at the hands of top-ranked UCLA. But host Georgia, seeded 10th in the 16-team field, stunned everyone by upsetting the Bruins 4-3 in the finals to capture their third national championship in school history. In singles competition, Dukes Dmitry Muzyka fell in the first round Wednesday 6-3, 6-2 to a familiar foe: LSU's Hand. The Blue Devils other entry, Root, dropped a first-round decision to Illinois' Oliver Freelove, 6-1, 6-4. Root had defeated Freelove earlier this season, 6-2, 7-5. Muzyka and Jordan Wile will team up in the doubles competition beginning today.