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"It was fun to be on those sidelines for a while."That is how Duke football coach Carl Franks described the feeling after the team's latest loss, a 42-35 defeat at the hands of Wake Forest Saturday.
Duke's women's golf team opens its new season Monday from a perch that became all too familiar last year: the top. After spending much of last year as the nation's top-ranked team before falling just short of a national championship, the Blue Devils come into the NCAA Fall Preview in Auburn, Washington, at number one.
This year, as Duke's men's cross country team prepares for a new season, it does so from an unfamiliar spot--the top of the ACC.
Take a quick glance at the record of last year's Duke football team, and one could assume that the season was a total wash.
Although forward Rochelle Parent is seldom the Blue Devils' most prominent fixture in the box score, her coaches and teammates are always quick to point out her importance.
CLEMSON, S.C. - While their point guard often struggled to find his game at Littlejohn Coliseum, the Blue Devils (21-2, 9-1 in the ACC) prevailed 81-64 over Clemson (10-13, 1-9) in a hard-fought game behind stellar play from their forwards. The story in the opening half was of seniors Nate James and Shane Battier, who led the way in scoring 23 of the team's 33 points.
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>FAIRFAX, Va. - The women's basketball team (9-0) traveled to Fairfax, Va., yesterday afternoon, to take on George Mason (5-1) in the opening game of a four-game road swing. After struggling in the early going, Duke came on strong in the second half to claim an 88-68 win. Freshmen Alana Beard and Iciss Tillis led the way early, scoring the team's first 11 points. However, the story of the early stages of the game was the George Mason Patriots. After Tillis and senior Rochelle Parent scored the game's first two baskets, the Patriots went on a 7-0 run to lead 7-4 at the 17:08 mark. Duke coach Gail Goestenkors said that the Patriots' first-half edge stemmed largely from their hustle. "They did all the little things," Goestenkors said. "They played with heart and passion in the first half, which were things that were lacking in our game." The two teams were virtually even for the game's first 20 minutes, and the halftime score stood at 39-38, in favor of George Mason, a situation Duke has hardly been accustomed to. The Patriots were led in the opening stretch of the game by senior guard Jen Surlas, who torched the Blue Devils for 21 first-half points, on her way to a game-high 27. Patriots coach Debbie Taneyhill was very pleased with her team's early play. "We knew they were a good team," Taneyhill said. "And we came out in the first half ready to go." But the third-ranked Blue Devils emerged in the second half and proved why they are counted among the nation's elite. Parent tallied four straight points to open the half, as the Blue Devils went on a 16-2 run in the first 4:38 of play. Senior Georgia Schweitzer capped the run off with a layup, giving Duke a 13-point lead at 54-41. Schweitzer said that the improved play stemmed from the team's halftime discussion. "Our intensity just wasn't there in the first half," she said. "We decided at halftime that we were going to play a lot harder." Coach Goestenkors added that defense was a major key to the second-half improvement, which saw the Patriots score significantly less. "We were proud to come out and play with greater intensity and focus, especially on the defensive end of the court," Goestenkors said. "Our defense ignites our offense, and we're much more confident and exciting when we can force the turnovers and run." "We came out and played really good defense, and it led to some easy baskets," she said. "Defense is the main key to our offense." The play of Duke's freshmen was again stellar, as Beard led the team with 20 points and Iciss Tillis chipped in with 12. Schweitzer was also impressed with the defense of Duke's freshmen. "They're very aggressive," she said. "We've never had this many steals in the past." The senior Schweitzer also played an impressive game, tallying 17 points in her 30 minutes of play, including 11 in the second half, when the team perhaps needed them most. Taneyhill was very complimentary of Duke's play. "If you're going to have to learn these sorts of lessons, you'd rather it happen in a game like this," she said. "Duke is a good team to get beat by. I think they're a Final Four team." Yesterday's win runs the Blue Devils' record to 9-0, their best start since the 1987-88 team opened the season 12-0. Duke will see its next action Saturday at 2 p.m. at Clemson in its ACC opener.
The Duke wrestling team had a successful Saturday in Chapel Hill, competing of the UNC Open. The Blue Devils' performance was highlighted by the accomplishments of Tom Cass, who went 3-0 in the 184-pound weight class and captured the individual title. Two first-year Duke wrestlers placed third in their classes- Josh Sheridan at 157 pounds and Tim Marcantonio at 165 pounds.
The Duke men's and women's cross country teams competed at the NCAA championships in Ames, Iowa, on Monday. Following extremely successful ACC campaigns, in which the men took the conference title and the women matched their best-ever finish, hopes were riding high.
The Duke volleyball team gave its season a boost yesterday, defeating the N.C. State Wolfpack 3-1. Frustration had begun to set in for the Blue Devils, who entered play riding a five-game losing streak.
Despite foul weather and a muddy course, the women's cross country team performed very well Friday at the Great American Cross Country Festival in Charlotte. Duke finished a respectable fifth place out of 22 teams. Only Brigham Young, N.C. State, Georgetown and Ball State bettered the Duke women. "The race went pretty much as we expected at the top," coach Jan Samuelson-Ogilvie said, "but we were surprised by the strength of Ball State." Not surprising, though, was the superb effort of star sophomore Sheela Agrawal, who finished third overall in the 5,000-meter course with a time of 16:58.8. Only Kenyan native Sylvia Chelimo of Gardner College and Lindsey Thomsen of BYU were able to beat Agrawal, who was named the ACC cross country top performer of the week. "Sheela was with the lead pack in the last 100 meters," Samuelson-Ogilvie said. "The top three runners finished within three seconds of each other." Duke also received a strong performance from the only senior on the squad, captain Megan Sullivan, who finished 20th overall with a time of 17:46.4. Sullivan's coach was pleased with her time because she severely sprained her ankle in practice last week. "She has missed some training time because of her ankle," Samuelson-Ogilvie said. "She should be stronger for our next meet at Notre Dame in October." Following Agrawal and Sullivan were juniors Katie Atlas (23rd overall, with a time of 17:50.9) and Maddy Woodmansee (18:08), who had been sick leading up to the race. Rounding out the Blue Devils' top seven were three freshmen-Lisa Nagorny, Allison Hoffman and Laura Schmid. "The success of our freshmen bodes well for the future," Samuelson-Ogilvie said. "We have nine freshmen on our roster and five of them could potentially be in our top seven at some point this season." Ogilvie will need strong performances from her young runners to complement the one-two punch of Agrawal and Sullivan if her team is to make nationals. Duke came into the meet ranked 16th in the nation and second in the district. While the third place team can qualify if it has beaten highly ranked schools, only the top two teams in each of the country's eight districts are guaranteed advancing to the NCAA Championships. "Our ranking right now could be artificially high," Samuelson-Ogilvie said. "We're ahead of Wake Forest and UNC in our district, but they both have strong teams." The coaching staff believes Duke is certainly a top-25 team at the moment. By the NCAA Championships in November, however, Samuelson-Ogilvie said the team has a chance to be a solid top-15 team. "It's still early in the season, but I'm excited about how we started," she said. "Hopefully we can build on this and work towards nationals."
Coming off a stretch of play in which it won three straight games, including one against the nation's No. 9 team, James Madison, the Duke field hockey team had to like its chances against the sixth-ranked Demon Deacons from Wake Forest. For the Blue Devils, however, last night's contest at Williams Field was one of frustration and missed opportunities.
