Duke Falls In ACC Championship Quarterfinals To Miami, 4-1, On Friday

Friday, April 22

Cary, N.C.

TBA

Duke University

Miami

Duke Falls In ACC Championship Quarterfinals To Miami, 4-1, On Friday

4/22/2005 1:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis

By: Duke Sports Information

April 22, 2005

CARY, N.C.- Duke University's 17-year run at advancing to the finals of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Championship came to an end on Friday as the 15th-ranked and seventh-seeded Blue Devils fell, 4-1, to 12th-ranked and second-seeded University of Miami at the Cary Tennis Center in Cary, N.C.

The Blue Devils fell to 15-10 on the season and will next wait until May 4 for the NCAA Tournament selection show to find out where they will play next, while the Hurricanes improve to 19-3.

"Our lineup was thin this last month but we had the same lineup against Georgia Tech, North Carolina and yesterday when we played better," said Duke Head Coach Jamie Ashworth. "The match-ups were not great for us as Miami switched their No. 5 and No. 6 positions as well as their doubles lineups, but that is no excuse for the way we played today."

In the first two matches this season between the Blue Devils and Hurricanes, Duke picked up the important doubles point by winning on the second and third courts. On Friday, Miami jumped out to quick leads on courts one and three.

The Miami No. 1 doubles team of Audrey Banada and Melissa Applebaum got off to a 4-0 lead over Duke's Kristin Cargill and Jackie Carleton. The Blue Devil duo were able to break the Hurricanes' serve to win their first game of the day, but Miami battled back to win four out of the next five games to take court one, 8-3.

On court three, the Blue Devils' duo of Saras Arasu and Parker Goyer won the first game, but Miami's Patricia Starzyk and Caren Seenauth battled back to win the next six games to lead, 6-1. Duke won the next two games before Miami made it 7-3. The Blue Devils would not quit as they won the next two games to cut the lead to 7-5, but the Hurricanes proved to be to strong winning the next game to clinch the doubles point for Miami.

The other doubles match between Duke's Tory Zawacki and Clelia Deltour versus Megan Bradley and Staci Stevens was abandoned with Miami leading, 7-6.

Miami kept the momentum in singles getting out to early leads in four of the six matches. In a match-up of former UCLA players on court one, top-ranked Bradley went up against Duke's 121st-ranked Carleton. Bradley took a 2-1 lead early but Carleton kept it close notching a 4-4 score at one point before the wind picked up and Bradley took control of the match winning seven out of the next game games to win, 6-3, 6-1.

With Miami up 2-0 just two hours into the match, Duke's Arasu kept up her solid play winning, 6-2, 6-2, at the number two position to give the Blue Devils their first point of the day, 2-1. Arasu, a product of Tampa, Fla., notched her second victory of the season at the No. 2 slot and 101st singles win of her career.

After Arasu's win for Duke, Miami put the clamps down on the Blue Devils winning just two minutes apart at No. 3 and No. 6 to clinch the victory for the Hurricanes. At the third slot, Miami's Applebaum downed Deltour, 6-3, 6-0 and at the sixth position Emily Mowery defeated Goyer, 6-2, 6-1.

The other two singles matches were abandoned.

"The team is disappointed as nobody wants to be known as the team that didn't advance to the finals or anything," said Ashworth. "We have had to deal with injuries and after calculating we have had people out 140 out of the 144 days this season. That has taken a toll. The program will be back as we have some good talent coming in next year and hopefully we will be healthy."

Duke had advanced to the ACC Championship finals each of the last 17 years and had won 15 out of the last 17 titles.

#12 Miami 4, #15 Duke 1

Doubles:
1. Audrey Banada/Melissa Applebaum (M) d. Kristin Cargill/Jackie Carleton (D) 8-3
2. Tory Zawacki/Clelia Deltour (D) vs. Megan Bradley/Staci Stevens (M) abandoned
3. Patricia Starzyk/Caren Seenauth (M) d. Parker Goyer/Saras Arasu (D) 8-5
Order of Finish - 1, 3*

Singles:
1. #1 Megan Bradley (M) vs. #121 Jackie Carleton (D) 6-3, 6-1
2. Saras Arasu (D) d. Staci Stevens (M) 6-2, 6-2
3. Melissa Applebaum (M) vs. Clelia Deltour (D)  6-3, 6-0
4. Patricia Starzyk (M) vs. Kristin Cargill (D) abandoned
5. Audrey Banada (M) vs. Tory Zawacki (D)  abandoned
6. Emily Mowery (M) vs. Parker Goyer (D) 6-2, 6-1
Order of Finish - 1, 2, 3, 6*
*clinching match