It was a bittersweet ending of the regular season for No. 3 Duke, as the Blue Devils clinched the ACC title but were defeated in a road contest Sunday by Florida State 4-2. The loss ended the team’s quest for an undefeated record in conference play.
Saturday, Duke (20-3, 10-1 in the ACC) handily beat No. 5 Miami 5-2 in Coral Gables to finish the conference with the best ACC record and clinch the No. 1 spot in this weekend’s ACC tournament. The Blue Devils were unable to continue riding the tide, however, and fell to the Seminoles (12-7, 7-4), who came off a 4-2 victory over No. 4 North Carolina Friday.
The Blue Devils took an early lead, winning the doubles point, as the Ellah Nze-Rachel Kahan duo won 8-6 and Monica Gorny and Mary Clayton won 8-5. Kahan added another point at the No. 5 singles spot, as she finished with a decisive 6-0, 6-2 win.
From there, however, Florida State took over, evening the score with two quick wins over Duke’s No. 1 and No. 4, Nadine Fahoum and Elizabeth Plotkin, respectively. The Seminoles then pulled through with a three-set victory over No. 2 Nze 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 before finishing the match with yet another three-setter over No. 6 Clayton, 7-6, 6-7, 6-3.
Despite the team’s loss Sunday, Duke saw more solid performances from its younger players, particularly Kahan, who remained undefeated in singles matches for the season and ended with a 23-match win streak.
The Blue Devils are still in a great position going into this weekend’s tournament after garnering several victories over top-10 teams this season, including Friday’s win against Miami, a 4-3 win over No. 4 North Carolina April 6 and a 5-2 win against then-No. 7 California March 11.
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