GAINESVILLE, Fla. - When the Duke and Florida women's tennis teams met earlier this year in the finals of the National Indoor Championships, the Blue Devils came away with a 4-3 upset victory and their first USTA/ITA team title.
The No. 2 Gators (31-2) got revenge for the loss Saturday in the semifinals of the NCAA Championships in Gainesville, Fla., beating No. 3 Duke (30-3) 4-1 and improving their overall record to 26-3 against the Blue Devils.
"When I looked at the draw, the first thing I wanted to see was where Duke was," said Florida head coach Roland Thornqvist, whose team went on to defeat top-seed and two-time defending champion Stanford 4-3 in the finals.
"In my opinion this was about as good as any Duke team I've seen. I knew it was going to come down to the smallest little detail today. I'm really proud because halfway through the doubles it didn't look very good."
Duke grabbed the first doubles match when its 14th-ranked duo of sophomore Kelly McCain and senior Hillary Adams defeated No. 53 Alexis Gordon and Julie Rotondi 8-5. McCain and Adams broke the hard-serving Gordon in the first and final games and improved their season record to 24-12.
Florida quickly evened the score, as No. 26 Jennifer Magley and Zerene Reyes upset No. 8 Amanda Johnson and Julie DeRoo 8-6.
The doubles point then came down to the No. 3 slot, where Duke's Katie Granson and Katie Blaszak were facing the Gators' Lindsay Dawaf and Julia Scaringe. The Blue Devils fought back from a 1-4 deficit to even the score at 5-5.
Granson and Blaszak appeared to have taken the momentum and were battling for a break in the 11th game when Scaringe collided with the net during the middle of a point. That violation should have brought the score to deuce, but the chair umpire did not make the call. Florida went on to win the point and the match, 8-5.
The egregious error prompted a loud retort from the sizable Duke crowd and an on-court outburst from head coach Jamie Ashworth, who took a more conciliatory stance after the match.
"That was a huge momentum swing," Ashworth said. "The umpire said he was looking the wrong way and he missed the call. When you have one official on the court doing everything, it's tough and it's not an easy job."
The hard finish in doubles carried over into the singles slate, as Duke fell behind early on several courts.
The only Blue Devil who came out strong was No. 2 McCain, who cruised to a 6-2, 6-1 victory over No. 47 Scaringe, notching the team score to 1-1. But Florida quickly regained the lead when Magley beat Granson 6-2, 6-1 at the No. 6 slot.
Then, at the No. 5 position, No. 69 Blaszak lost the first set to No. 14 Gordon, whose powerful serve bothered the Duke sophomore early in the match.
"At the end of the first set I knew I was just going so fast and that I had to slow down," Blaszak said. "I've never been someone who loses the first set and thinks I'm out. I started playing better and getting some returns on second serves, which is important with her."
The two hard-hitting players battled 105-degree on-court temperatures during several long deuce games, with Gordon prevailing 6-2, 7-5.
Shortly after Blaszak's loss, Florida clinched the victory at the No. 3 slot, when Duke's No. 60 Saras Arasu fell to No. 28 Lindsay Dawaf, 6-3, 6-2.
The loss denied the Blue Devils a chance to play for their first-ever NCAA Championship.
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