Although the women's tennis team has hit few bumps along the road in a season in which it has dominated nearly all of its opponents, coach Jamie Ashworth had been looking for more from his players. The six-year veteran said he believed the Blue Devils had been winning their matches simply because of superior talent.
Thursday night at Ambler Tennis Stadium, however, the Blue Devils (19-3, 6-0) not only exhibited the skill that has propelled it to a No. 5 national ranking, but they demonstrated what Ashworth called "heart and desire," in a 6-1 victory over fourth-ranked Wake Forest (18-4, 4-2).
"We competed really well," Ashworth said. "I don't think we played our best tennis, but we competed better than we have all year in every position, even the ones we lost.
"We really haven't had that in awhile."
No match was more indicative of this competitive fire than the No. 2 singles contest, which pitted the Blue Devils' Amanda Johnson, ranked 30th in the ITA individual rankings, against the Deacons' Janet Bergman. Having split her previous two contests with Johnson, Bergman played consistently throughout the first set, while the baseline basher Johnson struggled mightily, committing a multitude of unforced errors and dropping the first set 6-1.
Little changed at the start of the second set as the Duke sophomore's mental lapses continued. But after falling down 2-1, Johnson started to play more aggressively, which allowed her to gain the necessary edge to overtake Bergman and win the second set 6-4. Having taken the wind out of the Demon Deacon's sails, the assertive Johnson plowed through Bergman in the third and final set, bageling
"I played really well in doubles, and then I went into singles and I couldn't do anything," Johnson said. "I was missing the shots I should make, and I just kept going for the shots instead of playing it safe, which was probably not a good idea. Once I got into the second set, I got into a little bit of a rhythm and she let up a little bit, I started to make my shots and get some more confidence."
While Johnson was pulling off a dramatic turnaround on Court 2, her freshman teammate, No. 1 seed Kelly McCain, had her hands full with the top-ranked player in the nation, Wake Forest's Bea Bealik. McCain, content to beat Bealik from the baseline, continually painted the lines, frustrating the emotional Wake junior, who owns one of the biggest serves--both first and second--in collegiate women's tennis. McCain, up 5-4, was unable to break the 6-foot junior, but after falling down 6-5 forced a tiebreak.
At 1-1 in the tiebreak, controversy ensued when McCain called a first serve by Bealik out, much to Bealik's disagreement. The match umpire agreed with McCain's call, but did not here her make the call and thus gave Bealik a second chance for a first serve based on match confusion. This decision prompted debate from Ashworth, who was assessed a warning by the umpire for his ardent disagreement.
"[The umpire] said, OI may have made the wrong call, but it was a learning experience.' That's when I went nuts," Ashworth said. "I said, OIt's not a learning experience out here when you're playing.
"For him to come back and say, OI may have made the wrong call,' is bad, and I'm going to fight for our players no matter what."
Despite losing on Bealik's next serve, McCain kept her composure and pulled through in the tiebreaker, winning 7-5. She carried this momentum into the second set by holding serve to go up 1-0.
Disaster then struck for the Deacons. A few points into the second game of the second set, Bealik lunged for a ball on the right side of the baseline and turned her ankle in the process. The top-ranked player shreaked with pain and was forced to retire, although Wake Forest coach Brian Fleishman said that Bealik's ankle injury was not as serious as the reaction that was elicited from his top seed in the immediate aftermath.
"I think she was more scared when she went down at first," Fleishman said. "Our trainer checked it out and nothing's broken, so we'll go back down to Winston, and of course our doctors will check it out. But it looks pretty good--it's just a sprain.
Before Bealik and McCain squared off in singles, the two, along with their doubles partners, met in the deciding doubles match of the day. After Duke's third-seeded team of Susie Abromeit and Katie Granson lost their first match of the year together and the Blue Devils' Johnson and Julie DeRoo overpowered Wake's Maren Haus and Karin Coatzee 8-2 at the two spot, McCain and Hillary Adams fought back to beat Bielik and Bergman 9-7, after being down 5-1. According to Ashworth, Duke's victory at No. 1 doubles served as a springboard for success in singles.
"[McCain and Adams] set a good tone for us winning that match," Ashworth said. "Mentally, their competitiveness was good to see, because they've lost a lot of close matches to teams that are ranked high."
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