Over the 16th-ranked Blue Devils’ last seven matches, a stretch in which they have gone 3-4, there has been a definite lack of intensity.
That should not be an issue Wednesday.
Duke (13-7, 4-3 in the ACC) will meet archrival North Carolina (18-6, 6-1) for its annual showdown tonight at 6 p.m. And although the match has regular-season ACC title implications for No. 13 UNC, there may be more at stake for the Blue Devils at the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center.
Coming off Sunday’s 4-3 loss to unranked Maryland, head coach Jamie Ashworth’s injury-plagued team desperately needs a quality performance to start rebuilding the confidence that it maintained throughout January and February.
Although the Blue Devils hold the overall series advantage 34-26 and have not lost to the Tar Heels since 2002, the dynamic of Wednesday’s match will be much different from last year’s 7-0 shutout because so much is riding on the outcome.
“We’re both still playing for a lot,” Ashworth said. “We’re playing for position in the ACC tournament, which is huge because of the expansion and the chance for an extra day off.”
Winning will be more difficult for Duke without two of its top three singles players. Katie Blaszak and Jennifer Zika will miss the match because of back and wrist problems, respectively. Duke’s schedule, however, gets no easier—its remaining matches come against No. 8 Georgia Tech and No. 14 Clemson. A strong showing Wednesday is key to building momentum heading into the conference championships for the Blue Devils.
“This is it before the ACC Tournament. We have three tough matches in five days, but we’ve been through this before,” Ashworth said. “If we win three matches, it would be great for our team. It would be great for our morale.”
Duke faces a Tar Heel team on a six-match winning streak, including a 7-0 sweep of Maryland Saturday, which it followed with a 6-1 pounding of Virginia. North Carolina also holds the third spot in the ACC and needs to win out to have a shot at the conference title, giving it added incentive to take down its rival.
The Blue Devils will suffer without their injured players during both the singles and doubles portions of the match. Besides solely personnel losses, the lack of a consistent roster has made doubles teamwork difficult for the Duke players.
“We haven’t been able to work with doubles teams and combinations because we’ve had to keep switching things around because of injury,” Ashworth said.
Duke’s makeshift duos, which have dropped the doubles point in three of the last four matches, will face off against two of the top-25 doubles teams in the nation.
The Blue Devils will be disadvantaged in singles play as well. Duke’s only active top-125 player, No. 111 Jackie Carleton will meet one of UNC’s two senior All-Americans, ranked 22nd and 31st. That leaves the bottom half of the Duke lineup to deal with the Tar Heels’ second All-American and the rest of North Carolina’s squad.
The winner of Wednesday’s match will also receive another point in the race for the Carlyle Cup, which UNC currently leads 11.5-6.5. A Tar Heel victory would put North Carolina within a point of claiming the cup for the second time in five years.
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