Duke works to break into NCAAs
(08/28/06 4:00am)
The 2005 IC4A champions are not content to end their season in the same way this year.
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The 2005 IC4A champions are not content to end their season in the same way this year.
Riding high on a No. 1 ranking for the majority of the season in 2005, Duke's seven seniors thought the team's last race together-the 2005 NCAA Championships-would also result in its first national championship title.
Duke was the higher seed, but buoyed by a rowdy home crowd in Palo Alto, Calif., Stanford was not ready to bow out of the NCAA Championships Sunday.
Almost half of Duke's starters realized they could be playing the last match of their careers as Blue Devils against Boise State in the second round of the NCAA Championships Sunday.
Senior Jonathan Stokke capped his Duke regular-season career with a critical upset against Virginia in the ACC finals, but behind his quiet and calm exterior, he is just a fun-loving guy off the court.
CARY - With Stephen Amritraj's match-and the ACC Championship-on the line Sunday, all of Duke and Virginia's players formed a line on the adjacent court to watch the final set that would break the tie.
This week the Blue Devils have enjoyed something they haven't had in their competitive dual-match schedule for the past two months-rest.
Head coach Jay Lapidus told the Blue Devils the same thing each of them had been thinking after they swept Virginia Tech Friday-"Sunday's going to be a war."
The Blue Devils made a statement against rival North Carolina in their regular-season match last year with a 7-0 shutout. But the Tar Heels responded just nine days later to upset Duke, 4-2, in the first round of the ACC Championships.
Before Duke senior Ludovic Walter even stepped into Ambler Tennis Stadium for the first time as a freshman in 2002, he already possessed a combination of impeccable discipline and a tenacious work ethic.
The Blue Devils were flawless this weekend, sweeping Boston College Friday and Maryland Sunday in two 7-0 blowouts.
In a departure from a trend of recent ACC matches, No. 6 Duke soared in singles competition to defeat No. 26 Wake Forest, 6-1, Wednesday afternoon at Leighton Tennis Stadium.
The Blue Devils came away with one victory in two narrowly decided ACC matches this weekend.
At 7-7 in the second doubles match against Clemson Sunday, senior Ludovic Walter drilled a one-handed backhand that fell just inside the doubles line to give the Blue Devils a key break point. With one chance to capitalize, Walter chipped a cross-court lob from the backhand side over the two opposing volleyers to give his team the break.
No. 5 Duke edged past No. 25 N.C. State, 4-3, in the ACC opener for both teams in Raleigh Wednesday by taking the doubles point early on and then splitting the singles matches.
The Blue Devils were outplayed against No. 4 Pepperdine Sunday in the semifinals of the National Men's Team Indoor Championships in Seattle, Wash. But a close win over No. 8 Baylor, the defending champions Friday, followed by a dominant performance against No. 1 Florida Saturday in the quarterfinals made this past weekend the best of Duke's season.
With the team score knotted at three points apiece, all eyes were on freshman Tara Iyer, as she fought for the decisive fourth point that would give fifth-ranked Duke a victory over No. 28 William & Mary (7-2).
N.C. State's 71-68 loss Sunday to Georgia Tech dropped the Wolfpack five spots in the rankings to No. 21. The loss was especially disturbing because Gavin Grant had a chance to tie the game with a three-pointer, but lost track of time and never got off a shot. The loss marked N.C. State's fifth consecutive game that came down to the final minute. The previous four were all victories, including double-overtime wins over Clemson and Miami. "We've been fortunate to be on the positive end of the stick of most of those," head coach Herb Sendek said. "I think that's really helped us. Yesterday we were not, but I don't know that that's entirely uncommon in our league. I think any number of teams can point to these kinds of close games." Rather than take the defeat to Georgia Tech-a team that had lost eight straight conference games-as a setback, Sendek said the Yellow Jackets have been underestimated throughout the season and have just been unable to close out games. Entering the contest, Georgia Tech had lost three of its last four games by fewer than four points. N.C. State's sophomore center Cedric Simmons, who has shown flashes of his extraordinary ability, has suffered from foul trouble throughout much of the season and against Georgia Tech it was no different. Simmons netted only five points in 17 minutes of play before fouling out-a far cry from his 28-point, nine-rebound performance against the Blue Devils Jan. 18. Simmons needs to learn to avoid foul trouble if the Wolfpack wants to make a postseason run, Sendek said. "I thought [against Georgia Tech] he just really had a hard time getting in the flow of things," Sendek said. "We had him in early foul trouble. It just seems like at every point, he was picking up that next foul to make that water even a little bit hotter for us." Continuing its ACC schedule, the Wolfpack plays Florida State on Wednesday night hoping to regain the momentum it had before the Yellow Jacket defeat. "I think [Florida State] is a great basketball team," Sendek said. "They play both ends of the floor. They have great depth and play very hard."
After playing games in front of two sellout crowds at home in the span of seven days, No. 2 Duke had a full week off before Monday night's 73-62 win at Virginia Tech.
After a strong first-half performance, the Blue Devils surrendered two goals to Creighton within a two-minute span, eliminating them from the NCAA Tournament and preventing a repeat trip to the College Cup.