If nobody is perfect, then this weekend the women's tennis team must have been nobody. The Blue Devils demolished both Harvard on Saturday and Georgia Tech on Sunday by identical scores of 9-0 to improve their record to 10-1, 1-0 in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
"We expect every match to be a tough match," freshman Megan Miller said. "We always have to be prepared to play our best because the other teams will always be ready to play since they have no pressure on them."
Duke, ranked No. 3 in the nation, opened ACC play yesterday on the indoor courts in Chapel Hill, although the Yellow Jackets did not offer much of a challenge. Junior Vanessa Webb, playing at No. 1 singles for the Blue Devils, set the pace early with a straight-set 6-3, 6-3 win. Junior Kristin Sanderson split the first two sets in her match with Xenia Uy but quickly ended Uy's chances of the upset, winning the third set 6-1.
Junior Karen Goldstein and Miller both had impressive victories by the same scores of 6-0, 6-2. Kathy Sell and Laura Zifer rounded out the singles sweep with easy straight-set wins.
"We all had to go out there and be really prepared to fight for each match," Miller said. "We wanted to just shut the door on them and not let them think that they have a chance... that's exactly what happened today."
Having already clinched the win, the Blue Devils could have let up on Tech in the doubles.
Instead, Duke continued its mastery of the Yellow Jackets and swept all three doubles matches by a combined score of 24-11, with the tandem of Webb and Goldstein shutting out Tech 8-0.
On Saturday at the Duke Tennis Stadium, the Blue Devils showed that Harvard may have a lot of smart people, but the school is lacking in tennis players. The Crimson were destroyed by Duke, winning only one set in the entire match.
Miller put on a clinic for Rosemary She, allowing She to win only one game. Webb and Sell were not far behind, each recording straight-set 6-2, 6-2 wins over their Harvard counterparts. Sanderson and sophomore Brooke Siebel also won in straight sets, while Zifer dropped the first set in her match before taking the next two, 6-1, 6-4.
Once again the Duke doubles play proved strong as the Blue Devils won all three doubles matches without trouble.
The combination of Sell and Siebel shut out the Crimson 8-0. The No. 1 doubles team of Webb and Goldstein and the No. 2 team of Sanderson and Miller put away Harvard by scores of 8-3 and 8-6, respectively.
"I think that it's good for us to play like this," Miller said. "I think the other schools know we are not going to take it easy on them."
The Blue Devils return to action on Monday, Mar. 16, when they travel to Las Vegas to face the Running Rebels of UNLV.
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