The men's tennis team, fresh off a tense 4-3 win against archrival North Carolina, was not in the mood for drama this weekend.
Completing a dominant two-day road trip with a 6-1 win over Virginia, the Blue Devils clinched the ACC regular season title with a perfect 8-0 league record for the fourth straight year.
"Going into every season, we feel if we can stay healthy we are going to be the favorite against most ACC teams," coach Jay Lapidus said. "And we feel we should beat those teams."
Sixth-ranked Duke (19-5) swept the three doubles matches and took five out of six in singles against the Cavaliers (15-8, 5-3) on Sunday, pushing the Blue Devil's streak of consecutive ACC wins to 33.
Duke, which easily defeated Maryland 6-0 on Saturday, will be the top seed in the ACC Tournament, which begins Thursday at the Racquet Club of the South in Norcross, Ga.
"We are starting to peak right now; it's coming together and we are getting on a roll," Lapidus said. But he added, "The tournament is going to be very competitive, and we need to keep our guard up."
Sunday's victory was impressive in its completeness, with Ramsey Smith, Andres Pedroso, Joel Spicher, Porter Jones and Marko Cerenko all winning in singles. Only Jones and Pedroso required three sets.
"Virginia is a very good team," Lapidus said. "I think that we played a great match up and down [the lineup]."
Virginia's Brian Vahaly, ranked fifth in the nation, claimed the Cavaliers' only victory, a three-set battle against Doug Root at No. 1 singles (2-6, 6-1, 6-4). It was Vahaly's school-record 30th win of the season.
Still, Lapidus was pleased with the effort from Root, who has battled recent back problems and inconsistent play. The senior sat out Saturday's match, but seemed more like his old self against Vahaly, a 1999 All-America.
"It was one of the best matches I've seen Doug play in a while," Lapidus said. "He is more relaxed and he feels like he's back on the right track."
For the weekend, Smith dropped just five games in four sets at No. 2 singles. The 26th-ranked Smith destroyed No. 51 Huntley Montgomery yesterday 6-2, 6-1.
"Ramsey had lost to [Montgomery] several times in junior competitions," Lapidus said. "The last couple of matches he's been playing very well and working on some things. We're trying to get him to be more offensive and control the points."
In doubles, Duke's eighth-ranked combination of Root and Smith knocked off No. 23 Vahaly and Montgomery 8-6.
Pedroso and Rueger edged John Winter and Tommy Croker 9-8 at No. 2 doubles, while Jones and Michael Yani won 8-3 at No. 3 for the sweep.
The only concern for the streaking Blue Devils as they head into the ACC tournament might be Porter Jones' health. Jones, like Root, is suffering chronic back pain.
The injury probably will not keep the senior out of the lineup Friday, when Duke plays the winner of Maryland-N.C. State. But it has Lapidus thinking about the depth of his squad, which he showcased Saturday by resting Root, Jones and Spicher.
Yani, Yorke Allen and Ted Rueger were all victorious as replacements for that trio against Maryland. Lapidus might need similar contributions this weekend as Duke guns for its third straight ACC crown and its seventh in eight years.
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