Before Duke faced Georgia Tech Saturday, senior captain Melissa Mang posed a question to head coach Jamie Ashworth: Had anyone gotten her 100th win on Senior Day before?
"I don't think so," Ashworth said.
On a gusty Saturday afternoon in Ambler Tennis Stadium, Mang blasted Georgia Tech's Sasha Krupina 6-3, 6-2 to take the 100th singles win of her career, finishing with an unblemished 10-0 conference record this season. Mang led Duke's charge in singles, and the Blue Devils secured a tight 4-3 victory over No. 7 Georgia Tech (16-6, 9-2 in the ACC), less than 24 hours after handily taking care of No. 12 Clemson, 6-1. With the wins, the No. 5 Blue Devils claimed a share of the ACC regular season championship and the No. 2 seed in the upcoming ACC tournament.
"It wasn't a goal of mine, I just found out this week that I was close," Mang said of the milestone. "It's pretty cool. I'm very proud to have had that many wins for Duke."
Mang becomes the 17th Blue Devil to reach the century mark in career singles victories, and the first in recent memory-if not the first ever-to do it on Senior Day. Mang is now 100-41 in her career, and needs just one more doubles win to duplicate the feat in that column.
"[Mang] has been great over her four years," Ashworth said. "The 100 singles wins is impressive, but even 99 doubles wins is just as impressive. It shows that she's been able to stay injury-free, but also that every time she's on the court, she's going to compete.
"She's been a good leader in that sense for other people to follow, and she's going to give it 100 percent every time she plays. She's going to win a lot of matches just on those characteristics alone."
With the win, Duke (20-3, 10-1) closed out the regular season in style, extending its win streak to 10 matches and wrapping up an undefeated home record in dual matches this season. Seniors Tara Iyer, Mang, and Jessi Robinson were honored before the match.
Entering Friday, Clemson (17-6, 9-2) and Georgia Tech both boasted the same conference record as the Blue Devils at 8-1. Over two days, Duke battled to wins over both conference opponents, each of which has appeared in the top 10 this year.
Mang cut the suspense first in Saturday's match, and Reka Zsilinszka followed soon after with a 6-3, 6-0 win to give Duke two quick singles points.
Meanwhile, on court one, Duke freshman Mallory Cecil was in a furious battle with No. 7 Irina Falconi. A day removed from dethroning the nation's No. 1 player for the second time this season, Cecil dropped the first set to Falconi but used the second to battle her way back into the match.
Down 0-40 on her own serve in the middle of the second frame, Cecil roared back to deuce and eventually took the game and all the momentum. The freshman dropped only two games to Falconi the rest of the way, finishing 2-6, 6-2, 6-2, earning the final point when the Yellow Jacket misjudged an overhead and buried the ball in the net.
"Yesterday's win is yesterday. I needed to come out today, and it was just like starting over," Cecil said. "After that first set, the crowd, my team, and everybody was doing so great. For me, that's such a motivator. Kind of like I did yesterday, I just kept fighting."
Cecil gave Duke its third singles point, but the Blue Devils dropped the last three in tight battles. Amanda Granson retired after her shoulder began to bother her, and both Ellah Nze and Jessi Robinson were narrowly defeated in three sets.
As Mang pointed out, a 3-3 draw in singles meant that capturing that first doubles point was crucial. Mang and Granson staved off the Georgia Tech duo 8-7 (7-3) at the top spot to complete the doubles sweep for the fourth time in five games.
"We know we have three really solid [doubles] teams, so we know we can win the doubles point against any team," Mang said. "It just brings you so much momentum going into singles, and it gives you positive energy. It can make all the difference, really, when you play these tough teams."
On Saturday, against a Georgia Tech squad whose toughness few would dispute, the doubles point not only made the difference in the match, but cemented the Blue Devils as co-ACC champions.
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