Duke hosts pair of top-15 rivals

Duke and Miami aren’t natural rivals.

Coral Gables is hundreds of miles away from Durham, and Miami only joined the ACC a few years ago, so there’s no historical link between the two programs, either.

But one was forged last season, during which the Blue Devils had to go through Miami not once but twice en route to the national championship.

Two days later, the Blue Devils were national champions.

This year hasn’t gone as smoothly for either program after both teams lost their best players—Duke’s Mallory Cecil and Miami’s Julia Cohen, who met in the semifinals of the individual portion of the NCAA tournament last season, are now full-time pros on the WTA tour.

In their absence, though, both programs have remained elite. Duke (18-5, 6-3 in the ACC) recently went through a rough patch during which it lost three straight conference matches, but the Blue Devils are still ranked sixth in the nation. Miami (16-3, 9-0), meanwhile, comes in at No. 11 in the most recent poll and is tied for first in the conference with fellow undefeated North Carolina.

The two teams will meet Sunday afternoon at Ambler Tennis Stadium, with doubles play set to begin at 1 p.m.

The Hurricanes have dominated the conference thanks in part to the stellar permormance of their best player, senior Laura Vallverdu. Sixth-ranked Vallverdu, an NCAA individual finalist in 2009, has gone 16-3 in the team campaign, and she will provide a real challenge to No. 50 Ellah Nze, who figures to play on the top line for Duke Sunday.

The Blue Devils can’t concentrate solely on Miami, though—No. 15 Florida State will also visit this weekend. That match is set to begin Saturday at 1 p.m. at Ambler, and the Seminoles (12-7, 6-2) are neck-and-neck with Duke in the race for third place in the ACC behind the Hurricanes and Tar Heels.