With the women's tennis team primed to record its 100th straight Atlantic Coast Conference win this upcoming weekend, it's hard to imagine another team dominating the conference with the same vigor.
The women's golf team is quickly moving into that class.
Duke shot a final-round 297, and 903 overall, to run away from the pack and win its third-straight ACC Championship this past weekend at the rain-soaked Grandover East Golf Course in Greensboro. Second-place Wake Forest finished a distant 14 strokes behind after leading by five after the opening round.
"Overall I feel great," coach Dan Brooks said. "I was looking for a few things for us to get out of this tourney. They had to play with a deficit; I think that was really good. After [Saturday] I wanted them to be able to widen the margin, and they did that too."
Jenny Chuasiriporn led the Blue Devils with a seven-over 223 that included an even-par 72 in yesterday's final round. The junior came up two shots short in her bid to win a third-straight individual title as the Demon Deacons' Marta Prieto opened strong on Friday, shooting par, and never looked back in capturing medalist honors.
"Jenny can't win them all," Brooks said. "She did the next best thing. I think this tourney was a good learning experience for her, especially as we get ready for Nationals and she goes against the best players in the country."
But the second-place finish didn't stop Chuasiriporn from being named ACC Player of the Year for the second-straight season. Brooks added a third-consecutive Coach of the Year award to his resume.
In addition to Chuasiriporn, Alicia Allison kept her scores in the mid-70s and finished third, just four strokes off the lead, while Kalen Anderson bounced back from a few rough tournaments in March by placing fifth.
"Coming to the end of the season, my game always starts to pick up," Allison said. "We're all kind of pulling it together at the right time."
It was the Blue Devils' consistency that kept their challengers at bay. Four of Duke's golfers finished in the top six and improved as the tournament went along.
"It's really nice to know that in Jenny's off tournaments, she's really not that off," Allison said. "The rest of us always seem to pick our game up too, and that really helps us."
Prieto led the Demon Deacons on Friday with an even-par 72, pacing Wake to a 12-over 300 that put them five shots ahead of Duke. Chuasiriporn, Allison and Anderson all opened with four-over 76s for the Blue Devils.
Duke took command Saturday. Filippa Hansson rallied from an opening-day 82 to shoot a 74 and lead the Blue Devils to a 301, 12 shots better than Wake, that put them ahead by seven strokes. Chuasiriporn's 75 moved her to within three shots of Prieto heading into yesterday's final round. Poor weather forced the first round to be finished early Saturday morning.
The Blue Devils now have three weeks to prepare for the NCAA East Regionals that will be played at the Washington Duke Golf Club, May 7-9. With last year's disappointing finish as a reminder, Duke is still looking for strong improvement before then.
"We're going to putt," Brooks said. "We've got a ways to go-we've got to work on our short game.... At Nationals, we need a score in the 890s."
Notes: Duke's team win set two records. It was the Blue Devils' sixth ACC crown, setting a league record, and fifth title this season, breaking the school record.
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