The women's tennis team, winners of 15 of the last 16 ACC championships, will find itself in an unusual place when it opens play Friday as the No. 2 seed in the event. The fifth-ranked Blue Devils (17-3, 5-1 in the ACC) have been the No. 1 seed in all but three of the past 19 conference tournaments, but a loss last Sunday to Clemson allowed the Tigers to claim the top spot.
"I think hopefully that the loss to Clemson is going to give us more inspiration to go out and prove to everyone that we are number one," senior Amanda Johnson said. "I think we should have won last Sunday, and we'd like to redeem ourselves."
Duke will face seventh-seeded Virginia (11-11, 2-6) in the quarterfinal round at the Millbrook Exchange Tennis Center in Raleigh, with the winner advancing to Saturday's semifinal against either Florida State or Wake Forest.
The Blue Devils handily defeated the Cavaliers 6-1 when the two teams met on April 4th, with the only loss coming when Jennifer Zika dropped a three-set match at the No. 2 singles position.
"We're a lot more talented than [Virginia], but they make you earn every point you win and make you close out points," Duke head coach Jamie Ashworth said. "It's a good first-round match because it allows our girls to hit a lot of balls."
The Cavaliers, ranked 54th in the nation, are led by junior Mariko Fritz-Krockow at No. 1 singles, but she was defeated 6-2, 6-1 by ninth-ranked Johnson in the teams' first matchup.
Johnson will look to lead the Blue Devils to their third ACC championship during her tenure. The three-time All-American from Bettendorf, Iowa has been one of the most consistent players in program history; her 111 career singles wins is 11th all-time at Duke.
"I would love to end my four years at Duke by winning the ACCs," Johnson said. "It definitely means a lot to me, maybe more than my team realizes."
As Duke's only senior, Johnson has played a key leadership role throughout the year, and her presence will be particularly important during tournament time.
"Amanda has been great because she's obviously the most experienced and she tells us what to expect and calms us down," said freshman Tory Zawaki, who has compiled a 15-5 record this spring playing primarily in the third singles slot. "She's a great fighter and a great competitor, and I'm really glad to have her to look up to."
One key for the Blue Devils as they head into the weekend will be the play of their doubles teams, which have won 15 out of a possible 20 points. After regularly switching pairings at the beginning of the season, Ashworth has settled primarily on the duos of Zawaki and Julia Smith at No. 1 and Johnson and Saras Arasu at No. 2.
The freshman duo of Kristin Cargill and Zika has played effectively at third doubles for most of the spring, but the lineup could change slightly with the return of junior Katie Blaszak, who had been sidelined with a shoulder injury.
"Our doubles is playing better," Ashworth said. "Getting Katie on the court is going to help us more and more. She's played two good doubles matches and her first singles match in nine months."
If Duke is able to advance to Sunday's final, it may have a chance to avenge its home loss to Clemson on senior day. The top-seeded Tigers (19-3, 8-0) snapped the Blue Devils' 35-match ACC regular season winning streak and captured the school's first regular season conference title since 1986.
"We definitely have a lot of motivation after the loss to Clemson," Zawaki said. "We know we shouldn't have lost to them on our home turf, so we're going in there really hungry to win.
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