Men's, women's tennis compete at ACC Indoors

CHAPEL HILL - For 11 seasons, the only place parity has ever found in any place in ACC women's tennis has been in a well-timed punchline. There's been Duke, and there's been everybody else. The Blue Devils have reeled off an 11-year, 113-match winning streak, but if last weekend's ACC Indoor Tournament is any indication, 2000 might look little like seasons past. The tournament saw Wake Forest receive five of the eight singles seeds en route to claiming all three possible titles-singles, doubles and consolation singles. And for a team trying to vaunt itself over a dozen-year hump, it might be all the motivation the Demon Deacons need. "This is the first year in a while in the ACC that we're going to have some tough competition," said Erica Biro, Duke's probable No. 3 player. "Last year, we won the finals in about an hour. It was ridiculous. So it's good to have some competition. But we're confident we can win again." The Blue Devils, who graduated three 100-match winners from last year's record-setting team, rested their top two players, Megan Miller and Kathy Sell. The Demon Deacons, however, left only top seed Mariel Verban at home. The result was a Wake Forest whitewash of the seedings and a sneak preview, at least at the bottom of the lineup, of the conference's most eagerly anticipated match in years. And if nothing else, Biro will never have to worry about being unprepared for the Wake Forest lineup. The sophomore faced five separate Deacons on her way to the semifinals in both doubles and singles as she became the only player other than Wake Forest's Adria Engel to appear in both semis. Unranked this season largely because of a light fall schedule, Biro, who spent nearly all of last season in the top 100, almost had her first Deacon opponent be her last. After watching Biro drop a frustrating first set to No. 7 seed Maren Haus, head coach Jamie Ashworth gave his top entrant a little between-set advice. And it couldn't have worked better. Biro promptly reeled of the next seven games in the match, riding the momentum through a tightly contested third set. "It was like I was playing the worst tennis of my life," Biro said of her opening set. "I probably couldn't have made two balls in the court if I tried. When [Ashworth] suggested I change, I had nothing to lose.... All of sudden I started winning game after game. I was glad to pull it off." But for the Deacons, the third time was the charm. After beating Wake's Jackie Houston-who was ranked 42nd in the last ITA poll and seeded fourth in the tournament-Biro fell to sixth-ranked Adria Engel, the tournament's eventual champion and the only top-10 player entered. The Demon Deacon quickly won the first nine games of the match and ended the semifinal contest before it seemed to get started. "[Engel] came out on fire. It was like I was playing Steffi Graf," Biro said. "It wasn't like I was really doing anything wrong. You have to give her credit." And doubles was a repeat performance. Biro and senior Brooke Siebel, the Blue Devils' No. 2 tandem from a year ago, knocked off the No. 8 seed, Janet Bergman and Annemarie Milton of Wake Forest, in the third round. But after winning the first three games of their semifinal match, the Duke duo couldn't hold off the sixth-seeded team of Bea Bielik and Engel. "Our top players can succeed, especially in doubles," Biro said of the Blue Devils' future matchups with the Demon Deacons. "We're strong one through three-we're pretty solid there. But it definitely won't be a walk in the park."