Women's tennis star Kelly McCain may have just missed a chance to become the first women's tennis player in school history to win two collegiate grand slams in a single season, but the sophomore nevertheless had a strong showing at the Omni Hotels National Indoor Championships in Dallas, Texas.
McCain, who earned the No. 1 seed in the elite 32-player field by virtue of her undefeated fall season and her victory at the Riviera All-American tournament in October, fell 6-3, 6-4 in the semifinals to No. 3 seed and eventual champion Agata Cioroch of Georgia.
Cioroch's victory marked a reversal from their last meeting at Riviera, when McCain came away with 6-4, 6-1 victory en route to the title.
"Agata was serving well in tournament, and it helped against McCain, who uses the whole court," Georgia assistant coach Debbis Beck said. "Agata moved well and was very solid from the baseline. She controlled play with her forehand and was mentally tough on big points."
With the defeat, McCain closes out the fall season with an 8-1 record. She picked up solid wins in the earlier rounds, highlighted by a, 6-3, 7-5, victory over No. 14 Alice Pirsu of Pennsylvania in the second round and a relatively easy 6-3, 6-1 triumph over No. 12 Lindsay Dawaf of Florida in the quarterfinals.
McCain was the only Blue Devil to compete at the National Indoors, although Amanda Johnson received an at-large bid, but had to withdraw because of a knee injury.
Several other players saw action at the Arizona State Thunderbird Invitational, and, in a surprising all-Duke final, third-seeded sophomore Saras Arasu defeated eight-seeded teammate Katie Blaszak in 7-5, 6-3.
Blaszak, a transfer from Vanderbilt, entered the tournament ranked 87th nationally, but was able to knock off No. 49 Jieun Jacobs of California and No. 21 Dora Krstulovic of Arizona State before falling to Arasu.
Arasu, ranked 47th nationally, had the biggest upset of the tournament, defeating hometown favorite and ninth-ranked Adria Engel of Arizona State, 7-5, 6-4.
Arasu also haunted Engel in doubles, as she and sophomore Susie Abromeit upset Arizona State's third-ranked duo of Engel and Krstulovic before falling in the finals.
This weekend marked the conclusion of the individual fall season for the women's tennis team, and the Blue Devils will begin their quest for a first-ever team championship in January against Northwestern.
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