The fifth-ranked Duke women's tennis team (21-3, 8-0 in the ACC) triumphed over seventh-ranked North Carolina (19-4, 7-1) 5-2. The Blue Devils' victory marks their 14th ACC regular season title in 15 years.
Coach Jamie Ashworth, proud of his team's win at Ambler Stadium, reflected on the importance of earning the ACC title and the No. 1 seed in the ACC Tournament.
"The national success we've had has been built on [the regular season title]," he said. "[Getting the No. 1 seed in the tournament] is big now because we get that day off in the middle."
In singles, the most exciting match came at the No. 2 position, which pitted Amanda Johnson, ranked 30th in the ITA individual rankings, against the Tar Heels' Kate Pinchbeck, ranked 27th. The first set was extremely tight, coming down to a tiebreaker that Johnson lost after she had been up 5-3.
"I should have won the first set," Johnson said, adding that the numerous rain delays amidst the glaring sun that finally moved the conclusion of the matches to the Sheffield Tennis Center hindered the momentum she had earlier in the set.
Angry,
In other singles action, No. 1 Kelly McCain, the freshman phenom ranked 3rd nationally, topped Marlene Mejia 6-1, 6-4 with unstoppable serves, powerful volleys and baseline winners. No. 5 singles player Saras Arasu and No. 6 Katie Granson also cruised to easy victories over the Tar Heels, winning 6-1, 6-3, and 6-0, 6-2, respectively.
Ioana Plesu, the lone Duke senior, played her last home match Sunday on senior day at Ambler Stadium. The result was a rather disappointing 6-1, 6-2 loss to Aniela Mojzis, whom she has beaten twice before. Mojzis gained confidence and momentum as Plesu's initial play was far from stellar, and the Tar Heel simply took advantage of her initial lead.
"I was having a hard time focusing on the right things," Plesu said.
Julie DeRoo, ranked 26th, also dropped her match 6-1, 6-2 to 64th- ranked Julie Rotondi, committing many errors that resulted from poor movement on the court.
"Footwork is the key for both of them, and I don't think they moved that well," Ashworth said of Plesu and DeRoo, adding that the doubles team of DeRoo and Johnson also lacked quick enough movement.
The No. 2 doubles team of DeRoo and Johnson won a close eight-game pro set 8-6, after dominating early in the match. The Blue Devil doubles team gave up two match points before finally closing out the match.
The No. 1 doubles team of McCain and Hillary Adams cruised to an easy victory, winning six straight games to beat the Tar Heel tandem of Mejia and Rotondi 8-3.
The win over UNC allowed the Blue Devils to close the gap in the Carlyle Cup race, which UNC now leads 24-11.
In Saturday's tennis action, Duke played the Clemson Tigers, winning all the matches except for the No. 6 singles game, which Granson dropped after a tough match to the Tigers' Milena Stanocheyva. Other singles action included wins from McCain, DeRoo, Plesu and Arasu, in addition to strong doubles action and subsequent victories in all three matches.
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