In dramatic fashion, the women's tennis team won its first ever ITA National Indoor Championship Sunday with a 4-3 finals victory over the No. 2 Florida. The fourth-ranked Blue Devils move to 8-0 on the season with three victories over top-10 teams over the weekend.
The victory marks the first national team title for the Blue Devils' program. The team will be ranked No. 1 in the nation come Wednesday
"It's unreal," national No. 2 Kelly McCain said. "It is very exciting to come here and show everybody we can play and be the best."
With the score tied 3-3 Duke's Amanda Johnson and Florida's Alexis Gordon were the only two players left on the court at the University of Wisconsin's N.C. Nielsen Tennis Stadium.
McCain had just secured her straight set victory and Johnson had a 4-2 advantage in the decisive set.
"I was really nervous," Johnson said. "I really wanted it for my team."
Johnson's nerves mounted during the seventh game of the set as the two traded advantages with Johnson ultimately winning the exhausting game. Two games later, the championship was secure as Johnson held off a strong challenge by Gordon and won 3-6, 6-4, 6-3.
"She is who we want in that situation," head coach Jamie Ashworth said. "She is going to make people play and not be crazy with her decision making. She is going to step up and hit the ball."
After the Duke swept the three double matches to earn the doubles point, singles play in yesterday's finals got off to a rocky start for the Blue Devils. Julia DeRoo, Katie Blazak and Julia Smith all fell in straight sets to higher ranked Florida players.
Despite being down, Ashworth never lost confidence in his players. The three remaining singles players had yet to drop a match all weekend.
At the No. 6 position, Katie Granson won her first set 6-2 but dropped the second by a score of 4-6, after losing her focus for a few games. Granson, knowing she had to win a third set, stormed back and dominated her opponent Jennifer Magley 6-1 to earn the Blue Devils their second point.
"I was just thinking that she was a lot more nervous than I am," Granson said. "I was just trying to play the way I played to get there."
Kelly McCain defeated No. 7 ranked Lindsay Dawaf in a tough straight set victory. McCain, with her powerful ground strokes, was able to dictate play as she did all weekend on the fast courts.
"She competed really well all weekend," Ashworth said. "When she is competing well and is mentally into the match she is tough to beat."
To reach the finals, the Blue Devils knocked off Kentucky 6-1. The second round saw a match up with tobacco road rival No. 5 North Carolina. While Duke was victorious, again by a score of 6-1, the match was much closer than the score indicated.
The Blue Devils' semifinal match with California resulted in a 4-1 victory after two matches were suspended because their result was inconsequential to the team's victory.
"The Cal match was the first time all year that we competed really well and played really well," Ashworth said.
The whole team was elated with the doubles play, an Achilles Heel for the Blue Devils in years past. The team won the doubles point in all four tournament matches, with Granson and Smith victorious in each match.
"It was instrumental," McCain said. "Last year we struggled with the double point. It boosted our confidence a lot to win the doubles point every single match."
Prior to yesterday's victory, the team had reached finals of the ITA National Indoors on two occasions.
"It is another step for our program that we haven't been able to take," Ashworth said. "To get that first win gives our program a lot of confidence. Hopefully we will have the same opportunity in May."
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