The women's soccer team breathed a deep sigh of relief Monday afternoon after learning that it will indeed compete in the NCAA tournament starting this weekend. Duke will meet No. 22 Tennessee in the first round matchup Friday night at 7:30 p.m. at North Carolina's Fetzer Field. The winner will meet the victor of the UNC-Greensboro matchup Saturday at 1 p.m.
"A big holler was our initial reaction when they showed us up on the screen," first-year coach Robbie Church said. "Then came relief, because everybody was really nervous about getting in. We all felt like we deserved to be in, but we are the first team in league history to get an at-large berth with a sub-.500 record."
The tournament selection marks the zenith of a roller coaster season for the Blue Devils. After feeling slighted over the team's low preseason selection in the conference, Duke came out flat to start the season and was hampered by numerous injuries to key starters.
But the return of fifth-year senior Kasey Truman a few weeks back gave the team an extra spark to finish the season with a three-game winning streak, including two crucial ACC victories. Still, Church and his players had reason to fear an NCAA snub Monday after bowing out in the first round of the ACC tournament to end the season with eight wins and nine losses.
"We were lucky because we were the second [pair of teams] on the board," Church said. "They first announced North Carolina-UNC-G, and I figured the next grouping had to be Duke because I knew if we were going to get in, we would be going to Chapel Hill. So I thought Uh, oh, we better be next or we're in some trouble here. Thank goodness they flashed us next."
The tournament selection was the first ever for the Blue Devil's first opponent, the 11-6 Volunteers. Tennessee is led by its pair of All-SEC selections in freshman midfielder Sue Flamini and junior forward Kim Patrick, who ranked second in the conference in both points and goals.
"They're a lot like North Carolina, and that's because [Tennessee coach] Angela Kelly was an All-American there," Church said. "They play the same type formations, have the same tendencies. In that sense, it's good for us because we have already played against that type of system."
Tennessee also has a Duke connection on its roster in coach Sam Baggett. Baggett, a first-year assistant at UT, was a four-year starter at Duke from 1994-97. A freshman All-American and three-time National Soccer Coaches Association of American All-Southeast Region choice, Baggett had 38 points on 16 goals and six assists to lead the Blue Devils to four consecutive NCAA berths. She later served as an assistant coach for Bill Hempen here at Duke during the following two seasons before taking the post at Tennessee.
"[The Duke seniors] all have stayed in touch with Samantha. I think they're all excited about that," Church said.
Duke was one of seven ACC teams to get a bid to the postseason, garnering one of the 36 available at-large bids, while Tennessee was one of five SEC teams selected. The selection of seven of the eight ACC teams was no shock to Church, but he was surprised to see the number of regional matchups put together by the committee, particularly in the Southeast.
"I really thought [the ACC] would get seven because we are number seven," Church said. "It didn't surprise me. Our conference is very tough, top to bottom.
"They really went regional with the groupings, with the three ACC-SEC matchups in the first rounds, which should be really interesting."
With the game held so close to home, Duke will have the obvious home-field advantage over Tennessee. Duke has also played a tournament this season on Fetzer Field in addition to the North Carolina games every other year.
"We're excited because this is home, or close by," Church said. "The girls are used to traveling to Chapel Hill. Hopefully, we can get the students and fans over there to give us support. Practicing on our own fields and sleeping in our own beds until Thursday are things that will be helpful for us."
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