In a season full of surprises, the women's tennis team saved the biggest for last.
Erica Biro, a sophomore from Boca Raton, Fla., has been released from her scholarship and removed from the women's tennis team for disciplinary reasons, head coach Jamie Ashworth announced Monday.
"It was a very hard decision to make, but we feel that both Erica and our team will be better off with her not coming back," Ashworth said. "She had a good two years with us and we wish her best of luck whatever she may do, but the team and the coaches simply feel that we will be better off without her."
The decision comes at the end of a season that saw the Blue Devils' 116-match ACC win-streak unexpectedly ended by Wake Forest and a four-year streak of NCAA semifinal appearances ended in the round of 16.
But the decision to remove Biro from the team easily proved the biggest surprise.
After a strong sophomore campaign that saw Biro hold top-100 rankings in both singles and doubles and record a 32-12 singles record, she figured to be an important piece of the 2001 campaign.
But a lax work ethic and dissension within the team eventually outweighed her on-court contributions, leading to the removal.
"From a wins and loss standpoint, losing Erica is huge in the 27 matches we play," Ashworth said. "But on the 85 other days of practice when not playing a match, it will help our team."
Biro's imminent plans are not yet known and she is still enrolled in the University.
Ashworth, meanwhile, is actively seeking to fill the vacant scholarship either by transfer or signing one of the few remaining high school seniors.
"We need somebody out there who is willing to work hard and appreciate the chance to play on the team and appreciate being at Duke," Ashworth said. "In the long run, we're going to be a better team and a team in the true sense of the word. With someone else we can get more out of practice.
"With only eight girls, if we have one not doing what they're supposed to be doing with their practice partner, that's 25 percent of the team that is not doing what it's supposed to be."
Losing Biro is an early blow to what likely would have been the most talented team in program history, but one for which an exceptionally deep team should be able to compensate.
With the addition of Anfle Cargill, the nation's top-ranked recruit, and the return of top seeds Megan Miller and Kathy Sell, Biro would likely have played fourth in the lineup. But with rising sophomores Katie Granson, Hillary Adams and Prim Siripipat-the Nos. 4, 5 and 6 seeds from this year's squad-all returning, the Blue Devils should be able to recover from the loss.
Replacing Biro's doubles presence, however, will prove more of a challenge.
With the graduation of Brooke Siebel, the women's tennis team has now lost both members of its No. 1 doubles team.
Yet with Cargill's reputation as an excellent doubles player and a possible replacement for Biro coming in during the summer, losing Biro won't keep the Blue Devils from starting this season as a likely national championship team.
"It was a hard decision for us, but it's one we had to make," Ashworth said. "I think our team can deal with it and work around the problems. We lose talent with Erica leaving, but both sides will be better off."
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.