The No. 4 women's tennis team crushed No. 34 Kentucky 6-1 last night in the first round of the ITA National Team Indoor Championships at Madison, Wis. The victory sets up a showdown tomorrow in the quarterfinals with Tobacco Road foe, No. 5 North Carolina.
Against the Wildcats, the Blue Devils captured the doubles point by playing very strong doubles, winning all three matches with its trio of ranked pairings: No. 13 Kelly McCain and Hillary Adams won 8-2 in the first slot; No. 11 Julie DeRoo and Amanda Johnson pulled through 8-6; and No. 49 Katie Granson and Julia Smith edged the Wildcats 8-7.
Head coach Jamie Ashworth is confident that his team's winning doubles play will continue, building on the confidence of having not dropped a doubles point yet this season.
"I am really confident with our doubles," Ashworth said. "I think that we can win at least two doubles matches against anybody we play."
In singles action, the Blue Devils won five of their six contests. Duke's Katie Blaszak started the landslide, scoring a 7-6, 6-2 win in the fourth singles spot. No. 15 Johnson, who struggled early in losing the first set 6-1, regrouped and pulled out the final two sets 7-5, 6-0.
McCain, currently ranked second in the country in singles, cruised by Kentucky's top-player, No. 37 Sarah Witten, to the tune of a 6-1, 6-2 thrashing. Duke's other points came from DeRoo and Granson.
"We can definitely be the best team there," McCain said. "I think we can with if we play well and have our heads together."
In other action, Stanford, the tournaments No.1 seed, knocked off host school Wisconsin. National powers Florida, UCLA and Georgia also advanced to the second round.
Finally, the Tar Heels knocked off Texas A&M by a score of 5-2. The Blue Devils and UNC split matches in 2002, and will clash tomorrow in an important early season battle.
The Blue Devils have reached the tournament finals twice in their years competing at the National Indoors, and fell in the semifinals last year. The Blue Devils, having returned the nucleus of its team from 2002, has higher expectations this season and would like to use a successful tournament as a jumpstart.
"I expect us to have a chance to win it," Ashworth said. "We have never won it. We have been close a few times. I think as a team we have stuff to prove to the rest of the country."
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