The men's tennis team continued its decade-long blitz through the ACC.
The three-time defending conference champions, who have owned the ACC title eight of the last 10 seasons, blasted another rival yesterday, shutting out visiting N.C. State 7-0 at the Duke Tennis Stadium. Duke (15-3, 6-0) has only dropped one of 36 ACC singles matches this season, enabling coach Jay Lapidus to rotate one of his players out against every opponent.
No. 1 singles player Phillip King took yesterday afternoon off, and many of the freshman's teammates did not have to work much harder against the Wolfpack (4-16, 0-4 in the ACC). At No. 3 singles, Marko Cerenko took a 5-0 lead in his first set while only dropping two points before opponent Matt Lucas retired because of back spasms. Aside from Cerenko's 10-minute outing, every Blue Devil won in straight sets in a match that has characterized the entire conference season.
"It's pretty clear we're head and shoulders above the other ACC teams in every aspect, singles and doubles," said Cerenko, who remained undefeated in his ACC career.
Sophomore Mike Yani, who played No. 6 singles, had the day's easiest victory, stomping N.C. State's Ryan Boward 6-1, 6-2 behind his booming serve. Meanwhile, seventh-ranked Ramsey Smith's triumph over athletic Eric Jackson moved the senior within three singles wins of breaking Duke's all-time record.
Jackson went up 4-3 in the opening set, taking a break advantage over Smith. But then Smith overwhelmed Jackson, cruising to a straight-set victory that witnessed Duke's star claim nine of the match's final 11 games.
"I started focusing a little bit better, I broke right back and from there on, I kind of rolled," said Smith.
Duke coach Jay Lapidus credited Smith's work ethic for lifting him to the precipice of program history.
"Ramsey's been one of the best players we've ever had in this program," Lapidus said. "He's just a great team kid. He's been a winner all the way around."
The Blue Devils also received easy victories from senior Andres Pedroso and sophomore Alex Bose. Duke's only contested singles match of the day came at No. 4, where Joel Spicher was tested by N.C. State's Reinaldo Valor.
After taking an early lead, Spicher fell behind a break at 3-4 in the opening set. But in a resilient display, the Switzerland native broke back immediately and eventually held serve to take a 5-4 lead after fighting off a score of break points. Spicher survived his service game with a tremendous stab backhand that floated past Valor, who was then assessed a point penalty for throwing his racket.
Valor had three chances to serve out the following game and extend the set a while longer, but three consecutive missed forehands gave Spicher a 6-4 triumph. Duke's sophomore then closed out the following set 6-4 long after all of his teammates had finished.
In doubles action, Duke took a 1-0 team lead by handily sweeping all three pro-sets. King, who began the year playing with Cerenko, paired with Smith at No. 1 doubles to defeat Jackson and Valor. Cerenko and Yani, Smith's former partner, dominated at No. 2, but Lapidus was most pleased by the play of his No. 3 tandem, Bose and Pedroso.
Bose played in only his fifth doubles match of the season, having recently moved into the lineup in lieu of senior Ted Rueger, who compiled a 9-6 record playing with Pedroso and Cerenko.
"We feel really good about our doubles," Lapidus said. "We've been experimenting back and forth most of the year, but I feel like this lineup has been clicking for us. I think it'll be a big factor for us down the road."
Duke hosts the Virginia Cavaliers Saturday in the team's final home match of the regular season.
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