Orlando, Fla. -- On an emotional day for seniors Megan Miller and Kathy Sell, the No. 3 women's tennis team used key performances from lesser-known players to beat Wake Forest 4-1 and earn the school's 14th consecutive ACC championship.
Playing at the four and five slots, Prim Siripipat and Katie Granson both had straight set wins, giving the Blue Devils a lift on a day when star freshmen Ansley Cargill and Amanda Johnson struggled.
"It shows our depth," coach Jamie Ashworth said. "People have these opinions that we're not good in one area or another. We showed that we can compete anywhere against a top-20 team."
The Demon Deacons were looking to avenge a 7-0 loss earlier this season, and they got off to a good start. Wake senior Janet Bergman routed Amanda Johnson 6-0, 6-1 to capture her 100th career singles victory.
In what was easily the match of the day, second-ranked Ansley Cargill dropped her first set 6-1 to No. 6 Bea Bielik. Cargill then fell down 5-2 in the second set and found herself two points away from getting routed before reversing the momentum against the power-hitting Bielik.
Cargill took advantage of her superior baseline game to keep Bielik away from the net, pounding the ball to Bielik's weaker backhand side.
The freshman finally broke service to make the score 5-4, after Bielik became rattled by some shaky groundstrokes and several questionable calls.
Cargill went on to win the set before the match was called due to completion of the tournament.
"I think [the calls] affected her," Cargill said of the decisive break of service. "I really don't think those balls were out. When she reacted that way, it showed me she was nervous and I took advantage of that."
Although Cargill's match was called after two sets, Ashworth noted how important it was for the team, which looks at the tournament as an opportunity to get ready for the NCAAs next month.
"We are very excited," Ashworth said. "We didn't play our best today, but we competed great. Ansley [Cargill] did a good job keeping Bea on the court longer. If that match ended up being a quicker match, Wake Forest gets two pretty quick wins and that could have changed to put pressure in different places."
As for Miller, the weekend was a fitting close to a Duke career in which she was part of four ACC titles.
Her match-clinching 6-3, 6-1 win over Wake Forest's Maren Haus also helped her to the MVP award.
"When I go out there and see everyone leaving it all on the court, I feel like part of that's me," Miller said. "It's the champions we have that make us a championship level team."
The Blue Devils were pleased with the title, but made no bones that they consider this tournament simply preparation for the NCAAs. Outside of the Demon Deacons, no school has been able to compete with Duke the past two years.
"It's a stepping stone for the NCAA's," Miller said. "[But] whoever wins, wins the title, so we were definitely expecting a battle. I knew that each of their players would go out there with nothing to lose. Beating Duke is something that all schools look forward to doing."
Wake forest has now lost to Duke in eight straight ACC tournaments.
As for the Blue Devils, the focus now shifts to Stone Mountain, Ga., where the national championships will be held in three weeks.
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