On a blistering hot Senior Day against Virginia that honored two of Duke's all-time winningest women's tennis players, Megan Miller and Kathy Sell, the second-ranked Blue Devils pulled out a 5-2 win over Virginia
Duke (18-1), playing its third match in as many days and its seventh in the last nine days, showed some signs of fatigue against the Cavaliers (13-7).
"We were all tired mentally and physically, and it wasn't necessarily a pretty match," freshman Ansley Cargill said. "In the end, though, we were able to pull through, which is what really matters."
Duke picked up the doubles point with wins from Cargill and Sell and the fourth-ranked duo of Miller and freshman Amanda Johnson, while the tandem of sophomores Hillary Adams and Katie Granson fell 9-8 in a match that lasted nearly two hours.
At the No. 2 slot, Sell and Cargill came out firing and won 8-0 in the quickest match of the day. Miller and Johnson struggled to find their form at the start of play, falling behind 4-1, but came back for an 8-5 victory.
"Amanda and I were definitely flat at the beginning of doubles," Miller said. "Still, it's a really good sign that we were able to pull out a victory when we were no where near our best."
Duke built on its early 1-0 lead, as both Cargill and Johnson made quick work of their opponents to give Duke a 3-0 lead. Cargill, ranked second nationally, defeated Virginia's Amy O'Donnell 6-0, 6-2, while No. 19 Johnson was just as dominating in a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Christie Schweer.
Although the Blue Devils needed only one more point to secure their victory, Adams had to default because of chronic tendonitis in her knee, and both No. 16 Sell and Prim Siripipat were involved in close matches.
Thus, in her final match at Duke Tennis Stadium, No. 49 Miller needed to close out the Cavaliers' feisty sophomore Henriette Williams. Miller built a 6-1, 5-1 lead and seemed in control of the match, but Williams battled back to 5-4 before finally falling.
"The end of that match was all mental," Miller said. "I was so tired, but I just wanted to end my career here on a good note. I just focused and toughed it out."
After Miller's victory secured the Blue Devils' 18th win of the season and a 6-4, 6-2 triumph by Siripipat at the sixth spot put Duke up 5-1, the attention turned to Sell. Sell struggled on her Senior Day, falling behind 6-4, 5-0 to Jennifer Touchband.
With the match seemingly over, Sell faced three match points at 5-1 down in the second set. But then she began an improbable comeback that is representative of her grit and determination throughout her four years at Duke.
An increasingly frustrated Touchband had no answer as Sell fought off several match points and brought the second set to a tiebreaker.
"I like being out on the court and fighting," Sell said. "I've come out of situations like that before and I wasn't going to give up."
Touchband was able to regain her composure in the tiebreaker to take the match, spoiling what would have been a story-book ending to a career at Duke in which Sell became the second all-time winningest player in Duke history.
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