Of all the things head coach Jaime Ashworth would've liked his 2000 squad to copy from its 27-win predecessor, losing to William & Mary was not one of them.
For the second straight season and the third time in four meetings, the Blue Devils' first road trip of the year ended in an upset loss as No. 15 William & Mary (4-1) topped the No. 5 Blue Devils (3-1) 6-3 in a late match in Williamsburg last night.
But the Blue Devils, who began the season on neutral courts in Hawaii, made it interesting.
Five of the six singles matches went to three sets, stretching the contest from its unusually late 5 p.m. start time to past 10 p.m.
Junior Kathy Sell claimed the lone two-set match of the day, defeating William & Mary's No. 3 seed Jessyca Arthur 6-2, 6-3.
Despite holding the early 1-0 lead, the Blue Devils were unable to capitalize on the momentum. Four of the five remaining matches went to William & Mary, with only top seed Megan Miller scratching out a victory for the Blue Devils.
And it's likely the Blue Devils, a team whose strength year in and year out lies in its singles lineup, were more than a little surprised.
Just once during its 27-4 season of a year ago was Duke defeated 4-2 in singles, and that was to then-No. 1 Florida in the national semifinals.
Yet the situation wasn't all that unfamiliar. In its season-opening tournament in Hawaii, Duke split singles with Washington, needing two out of the three doubles.
The Blue Devils responded by winning all three doubles matches.
But last night, it was William & Mary, headlined by the doubles team of Delphine Troch and Caroline Van Rossum that owned the doubles lineup.
Duke's No. 1 team of Erica Biro and Brooke Siebel managed to stretch the Tribe to an extra game, but Biro and Siebel, last year's No. 2 doubles squad fell 9-7 to Troch and Van Rossum.
The Blue Devils' No. 2 doubles team of Miller and highly touted freshman Hillary Adams grabbed the only doubles victory for the Blue Devils, breezing through Arthur and Lindsay Sullivan, 8-1.
It was the first match of the season on the mainland for the Blue Devils and the fourth overall, following a weekend excursion to Hawaii to start the season in January.
And it was also the first lineup change of the season.
While Miller stayed constant atop the singles lineup, sophomore Erica Biro moved up a notch, replacing Sell and for the first time this season Duke's freshman class filled out the bottom of the lineup, with Adams at No. 4, Katie Granson, who is recovering from shoulder problems, at No. 5 and Prim Sirpipat at No. 6.
Despite the three recent losses, Duke remains 13-5 overall against William & Mary.
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