With warm-up wins against Hawai’i, Elon and N.C. Central behind them, the No. 14 Blue Devils finally get to take on the top guns. They host the ITA Kick-Off Weekend at the Sheffield Indoor Tennis Center and begin their tournament with a match against No. 24 Michigan Friday morning at 10 a.m.
This is an important tournament for the team. Winning its two matches this weekend will allow Duke to move to the Sweet 16 round in Seattle, Wash. Feb. 18-21.
“This tournament is definitely going to be a challenge,” head coach Ramsey Smith said. “There are 15 regions in the country. We happen to be in the toughest. All four teams are in the top 25. But that’s good—we get to play teams who are solid from top to bottom.”
The Blue Devils (3-0) have won their last three matches in dominating fashion, without dropping a single set. Crucial to the team’s success is the No. 12 doubles team in the nation, composed of senior Reid Carleton and sophomore Henrique Cunha.
The real threat that Duke exhibits, though, is the strength through the middle and lower parts of its lineup.
“Reid and [Cunha] will win their fair share of matches,” Smith said. “They get a lot of attention for how talented they are. But the rest of the team is critical. They are the key to win for the whole team.”
Freshmen Chris Mengel and Fred Saba are playing in the three and four singles spots, respectively, behind Cunha and Carleton. They will look to make their mark while playing against some of the first real competition they’ve seen in their collegiate careers.
“It’s awesome to be playing so high in the lineup, but it just means that we have to play well because our competition is better,” Mengel said. “We can’t look at it like we’re freshmen, just that we’ll help our team as much as possible.”
Mengel and Saba will have their work cut out for them during their matches against Michigan, as will the other members of the Blue Devil squad. The Wolverines (1-1) are looking for retribution after watching their comeback efforts fail against No. 5 Texas last Sunday.
“Michigan is a very similar team,” Smith said. “They have good one and two players with youth filling out the middle and bottom of the team. They also have a highly ranked doubles team.”
Duke does have home-court advantage, however. The Blue Devils ended last season ranked in the top 15, giving them the ability to host this weekend’s regional tournament.
As a result, the teams can play on an indoor court, a major improvement for Duke from its first round last year, when it was exposed to the elements while playing outdoors in Alabama.
“It’s definitely an advantage to host the tournament here,” Saba said. “We’ll have a few Duke fans in the audience to cheer us on. It’s always nice to play on courts that we’ve been practicing on for a while.”
The Blue Devils will either face No. 21 Pepperdine or No. 25 Virginia Tech Saturday.
Both the Waves and the Hokies will prove to be tough contenders as well, but Smith is confident in his team’s abilities.
“Our hope is to win two matches and make it to the Sweet 16 in Seattle,” Smith said. “We know we’re good enough, so this tournament is the gateway to get us there.”
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