Duke became the first program to finish with a perfect record in both regular and postseason ACC play Sunday as it won its 17th conference title.
After dropping the doubles point, the top-seeded Blue Devils rebounded to defeat reigning champion and second-seeded North Carolina 4-2 Sunday afternoon at Wake Forest Tennis Center.
The victory gave head coach Jamie Ashworth his eighth ACC championship, and the Blue Devils finished the season with a 14-0 record against conference opponents.
“Going undefeated in the conference was one of our goals, and we didn’t really talk about involving the tournament in that,” Ashworth said. “But when UNC [finished its regular season undefeated] a couple years ago, they didn’t win the tournament. And so, we really wanted to finish what we started.”
Duke swept the doubles matches in its regular season match up against the Tar Heels April 12.
In the tournament finals, though, freshman Beatrice Capra and sophomore Rachel Kahan won 8-5 in the No. 2 doubles match, but the other two Blue Devil doubles pairs combined to win a total of just four games, and Duke dropped two of three matches, leaving No. 8 North Carolina (22-6) with a 1-0 advantage.
“Right after we lost the doubles point, I wanted to throw up,” Capra said. “I had so many emotions going through me.”
Nevertheless, the Blue Devils regrouped at the break, shifting their focus entirely to the singles matches.
“I told them there was no reason to be down,” Ashworth said. “UNC hadn’t won anything. I thought that we did a good job controlling our emotions after the doubles.”
Duke bounced back immediately as four of six Blue Devils won their first sets.
Kahan finished her match first, defeating Tar Heel Shinnan Featherston 6-1, 6-1 and tying the match at one.
Capra, the No. 2 singles player in the nation and eventual tournament MVP, took seven games to break serve in her second set against 34th-ranked Lauren McHale, but eventually won 6-0, 6-4 to put the Blue Devils ahead 2-1.
“[Capra] brings a lot of fight, a lot of character,” Ashworth said. “The girls feed off of her emotion. She’s not emotional like screaming and yelling, but they know that they can count on her. She’s been a rock for us all year.”
Meanwhile, the two Duke players who had lost their first sets—freshmen Ester Goldfeld and No. 88 Monica Turewicz—both pulled even at one.
Turewicz, who had beaten Tar Heel Tessa Lyons 6-0, 6-2 in the regular season, had lost her first set in a tiebreaker in the No. 6 singles position.
“I was thinking to myself, ‘Well, she’s going to have a fun time winning the second set because there was no way I was going to give it to her,’” Turewicz said. “I just fought as hard as I could to get back.”
Blue Devils No. 49 Hanna Mar and No. 74 Mary Clayton, however, dropped their second sets, sending all four matches into a third set.
Last year’s grueling 4-3 quarterfinals victory over N.C. State took its toll on Duke and led to a semifinal loss to Florida State. This year, however, the team wasted no time on their road to the championship, winning 4-0 in both early rounds, leaving the Blue Devils with enough energy to execute in their final set.
Mar seized control of her match to open the final set, winning the first four games and eventually earning Duke’s third point with a 6-2, 4-6, 6-1 victory.
Although Goldfeld lost in a tiebreaker 7-5, Turewicz won five straight games to defeat Lyons 6-7 (3), 6-3, 6-2 and clinch the championship.
“As soon as she got into it emotionally she was better off,” Ashworth said. “When she’s fired up and into the match, she can really do what she wants on the court…. she came out and at the beginning of the first set had some loose errors, but she tightened her game up and played well when it came down to crunch time.”
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.