GREENWOOD, S.C.-Before the season began, some people predicted a down year for Duke women's tennis.
This weekend, the Blue Devils quashed any remaining doubts, capturing their ninth consecutive Atlantic Coast Conference championship at the Gatewood Country Club this weekend, without dropping any points the entire tournament.
The third-ranked Blue Devils (23-3) finished off 12th-ranked Wake Forest (20-6) with ease on Sunday, 5-0. The doubles matches were not necessary, as Duke took the first five singles matches in two-setters. In the regular season, the two teams battled to a 5-3 decision after splitting the singles points.
"The first time we played Wake, I think they played well and I don't think we played well," head coach Jody Hyden said. "We didn't really know what to expect [then]... I felt like this time we knew we could beat them because we already had."
In the process of dominating the Demon Deacons, the Blue Devils put together what Hyden claims is their best match of the year.
"I think that we felt like we could play a lot better than we did last time," Hyden said. "That's what we did. This is one of the best matches we've played all season.... We knew that if we pressed and pressed and pressed and really pushed them that we thought we could beat them more convincingly."
The top-seeded Blue Devils continued their ACC winning streak, extending the total to 80. Duke disposed of N.C. State on Friday 5-0, and eased past Florida State on Saturday 6-0, to advance to the championship against the Demon Deacons.
Sophomore Laura Zifer, who has not competed recently due to an injured elbow, paced the Blue Devil attack. Zifer clinched two of the team's three matches with her play at No. 4 singles, and, in the process, merited the tournament's MVP award.
"Laura was really questionable coming into the tournament," Hyden said. "We really didn't want her to play [Saturday]; we wanted to rest her, but Karen was injured, Ellen was injured, so Laura had to go. It's ACC time and she had to play. I think she took some Motrin and sucked it up."
Zifer said that her injury did not affect her performance over the weekend. "I think my elbow's pretty much healed," she said. "I felt it a little bit when I didn't take my Motrin on time. But staying with the ultrasound and the Motrin I was fine during the matches. It didn't affect my play at any time."
Zifer captured all three of her victories over the weekend in straight sets, but that feat came to be ordinary for the Blue Devils in the tournament. Of the 16 points which Duke won over the weekend, only one match had to be taken to three sets.
"In singles this season, we have played well, but we always talked about peaking in April and May," Hyden said. "Our team knew that this is a time you've got to lock it in. You have to play very focused, make very good decisions and be very mentally disciplined with what you're doing. And that's what we did. On every single court, that's exactly what happened.... I couldn't be happier."
The players' reward for winning the tournament is well-needed rest, said Hyden. The last challenge for the Blue Devils is the NCAA Tournament, held in Tallahassee, Fla., in May.
"We're going to give them seven days off," Hyden said. "They've got some aggravated injuries and so we really wanted to take time to just relax and get schoolwork done, then after that we're going to work a lot on our fitness. It's going to be hot in Tallahassee and all the matches are going to be tough.
"Then after our fitness we're going to continue to work on our doubles really strong and again with our singles. So we're going to do some two-a-day practices where we drill in the morning and play in the afternoon and really get ready for some heat."
The Blue Devils will also use the manner in which they won the ACC Tournament as a motivating factor for the NCAAs.
"It gives us a lot of confidence for the NCAAs, especially since we beat them so decisively," Zifer said.Hyden and the Blue Devils said that their winning streak has not been their season's focus, but they seemed happy about the outcome.
"It just gets more exciting," Zifer said. "I just look forward to continuing the tradition every year."
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