When you're the top-rated recruit in the nation, it's hard to take the ACC by surprise.
Don't blame Ansley Cargill for not trying.
The Atlanta, Ga., freshman shook off rookie nerves and a 5-2 third-set semifinal deficit to win the flight A singles and doubles championships and lead the women's tennis team to a near-Duke sweep in the Carolina Tennis Classic-turned-Blue Devil practice in Chapel Hill this weekend.
"For our first event we played very well," said coach Jamie Ashworth, whose Blue Devils claimed the top two doubles and singles championships in the event. "We expected to play well, but I also expected people to be nervous and be tense-which we were-but we didn't let it get to us and we played well as a whole."
Ashworth had hoped that the tournament-which featured the Blue Devils and a handful of overmatched mid-level teams-would give his freshmen an opportunity to adjust to the college game before next weekend's All-America tournament.
For the weekend at least, say this of Cargill-she doesn't waste opportunities.
Playing in her first collegiate tournament, the freshman lost just five games in her opening two matches, including a 6-2, 6-1 win over Virginia's Heinette Williams, the Cavaliers' No. 3 singles player.
That's when the nerves hit.
"As the players got better, and as I realized that for the first time I was playing for the team and not myself, it got a little more tense," said Cargill. "After a while I felt more confident. I knew how to deal with the situation, I got comfortable playing with a coach on the court and the tension eased."
After splitting sets with semifinal opponent, UNC freshman Julie Rotondi, Cargill found herself trailing 5-2 in the deciding third set.
And that's when the nerves made an unceremonious exit.
Cargill rallied back to force a final set tiebreaker, carrying the momentum through the breaker for a 7-6 (7-3) semifinal win.
"I knew that I had the capability to play better than I was, but when you're not playing your best you still have to fight," said Cargill, who had to contend with a hostile crowd throughout the tournament. "[Coach Ashworth] helped me with that, helped me get my focus back and get my game back."
One round later, Cargill hammered UNC sophomore Marlene Mejia 6-3, 6-3 to claim the flight A singles championship.
"I'm a lot more confident after being able to win my first tournament," said Cargill, who later teamed up with sophomore Hillary Adams to claim the flight A doubles title over Duke teammates Megan Miller and Amanda Johnson. "The next tournaments will be tougher because the competition will get better, but it helps to get the first one, get used to the game."
The Blue Devils also claimed third place in the top flight as Amanda Johnson, the other Blue Devil freshman, knocked off Rotondi in the consolation finals 6-3, 6-3 after losing to Mejia earlier in the tournament.
But the tournament didn't entirely belong to the Blue Devil freshmen.
Adams, who played in the middle of the Blue Devil lineup a season ago, dominated flight B singles in her first tournament of the year, showing a more mobile ground attack than she had as a freshman.
"Hillary was one of the highlights," Ashworth said. "One of the things she has worked hard on is her movement, and she was much more fit than her opponents this weekend. She worked harder on conditioning and made a big improvement in that."
Of course, the story of the tournament wasn't so much the event itself, but next weekend's All-America Tournament in California, the second leg of the collegiate Grand Slam.
"It was good to get matches under our belts for everybody; we have some young players," Ashworth said. "We still have to work on doubles, work on putting balls away. We have to become a smarter team and when we do, this is going to be a great team."
Note: Both Kathy Sell and Katie Granson sat out the weekend tournament with minor injuries, but both are expected back in the lineup immediately.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.