The women's tennis team was victorious over Wake Forest in its first ACC match of the season Wednesday, 5-2, at the Ambler Tennis Stadium.
The win was especially sweet for the No. 7 Blue Devils (6-2, 1-0 in the ACC), who had their 16-year win streak over the No. 20 Demon Deacons (6-2, 0-1) snapped last season.
"It was complete, sweet revenge, " said Jackie Carleton, who played at the second singles spot. "To beat Wake after losing 6-1 [last year] was a good confidence builder."
As they did Sunday against Northwestern, Carleton and her doubles partner, Kristin Cargill, won the deciding match to capture the doubles point.
In singles, Carleton, who is ranked 34th nationally, won her match 6-3, 6-4, to secure Duke's team victory.
Though Carleton won in straight sets, the last set was close. Carleton was up 5-3 when her opponent, No. 49 Ashlee Davis, slammed an overhead into the net, bringing the score to 40-30 and giving Carleton a match point. After a long baseline rally, the senior lost the point, as well as three other match points in the game.
Davis finally won the game, running Carleton off the court with a powerful baseline winner, bringing the score to 5-4. Carleton took advantage of her second opportunity, however. She held serve without dropping a point, clinching the win for the Blue Devils.
"I assumed I'd be the one to clinch from looking at the score board," Carleton said. "I just tried to stay focused."
Although Duke had already defeated Wake Forest, Daniela Bercek, who is ranked No. 2 in the nation, made an impressive comeback to win the first singles flight. After trailing 4-1 in the second set, she rallied to win 7-5.
The match marked the first time the Blue Devils had played outside this spring and head coach Jamie Ashworth said it will take the team some time to adjust.
"We've hit for a total of about 3 hours outside [before this match]," Ashworth. "There are so many different elements to deal with. It's such a different game."
Duke will meet N.C. State tonight at 5 p.m. at the Ambler Tennis Stadium.
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