With the 2010 college tennis season now in full swing, the time has come to forget about last season’s triumphs and focus on new challenges. Still trying to escape the shadow of a national championship, a new set of Blue Devils will look to make their own mark when No. 6 Duke (7-1) hosts No. 7 Michigan (6-2) Saturday at 12 p.m. at Ambler Tennis Stadium.
Although the Blue Devils began the season atop the ITA polls, a trip to Wisconsin for the ITA Indoor Championships last weekend yielded the first loss of the season to current No. 2 North Carolina. To head coach Jamie Ashworth, the trip north couldn’t have come at a better time.
“This team needed to prove to themselves that they could compete with anybody,” Ashworth said.
Duke beat No. 9 USC 4-2, but against North Carolina, the Blue Devils lost the doubles point for the first time all season, en route to a 4-3 loss to the Tar Heels.
“They were points away from winning,” Ashworth said. “That was a match that we could have won, and should have won, but it was important for our team to learn.”
Duke returns to the relative safe haven of Durham this weekend, where the Blue Devils have only dropped two points out of a possible 35 all season. Senior Elizabeth Plotkin, recently named to the ITA Indoor Championship All-Tournament team, has been a major reason for the success as she has gone 8-0 in singles competition thus far. Plotkin missed the entire 2009 season due to injury, but her resurgence has been a boon to the Blue Devils.
“She’s done a great job getting back, physically and mentally,” Ashworth said. “There’s not a lot of players that I’ve ever had that could go through [an injury] and come back the way she has.”
The Wolverines are led by No. 16 singles player Denise Muresan (6-2 in dual matches) and boast a strong lineup from top to bottom.
Sophomore-freshman tandem Michelle Sulahian and Mimi Nguyen have posted a 7-1 doubles record on the year, and Michigan has won all but one doubles point this season.
“The doubles point is so important,” Ashworth said. “If we win the doubles point [against Carolina], we win the match. We’re hard to beat in singles.”
On Sunday, the Blue Devils will face Furman (3-3) at 12 p.m. at Ambler Tennis Stadium. The surging Paladins are winners of three straight after a 7-0 meltdown loss against Clemson.
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