Duke Opens NCAA Tournament Action Friday At 2:00 PM Versus Michigan

May 12, 2005

2005 NCAA First & Second Rounds
#15 DUKE (15-10, 5-5 ACC)
May 13-14, 2005  Chapel Hill, N.C.
Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center

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Duke Set To Travel To Chapel Hill For NCAA Tournament First Round

The 15th-ranked Duke women's tennis team will be making its 16th consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance on May 13 as the Blue Devils will travel to Chapel Hill, N.C., for the NCAA first and second rounds at the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center. Duke (15-5) will face 32nd-ranked Michigan on Friday, May 13 at 2:00 p.m., while 13th-ranked North Carolina will take on Richmond.

The winners of both matches will battle on Saturday, May 14 at 11:00 AM to advance to the NCAA Final 16 in Athens, Ga. Overall, Duke is making its 17th selection to the NCAA Tournament and marks the first time since 1999 that the Blue Devils have not hosted the first and second rounds.

Noting The Blue Devils

Entering the NCAA Tournament ranked 15th in the latest Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) rankings, Duke is coming off a 4-1 loss to 12th-ranked Miami in the ACC Tournament quarterfinals in Cary, N.C. The loss broke a streak of 17 straight years of advancing to the ACC Championship. Duke has two singles players ranked in the latest ITA rankings-- senior Katie Blaszak (56) and junior Jackie Carleton (97).

Carleton will go up against former UCLA teammate Nina Yaftali of Michigan on Friday. The two played together for the Bruins as freshmen and sophomores before transferring over the summer.

Series Records

Duke owns a 4-1 lead in the series with Michigan with the last meeting coming in Durham, N.C,. in 2003, as the Blue Devils downed the Wolverines, 7-0. In the series with Richmond, the Blue Devils own a 5-0 advantage, but haven't played since 1991.

The Blue Devils own a 34-27 series advantage over North Carolina, but earlier this season the Tar Heels won, 4-3, indoors at the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center on Apr. 13. The loss was the first against North Carolina in regular season play since a 5-4 setback in 1987.

The Injury Situation

Going into the season, Head Coach Jamie Ashworth said one of the strengths of the program in 2004-05 was going to be depth. This statement was challenged all year as the Blue Devils lost Julia Smith for her career to injury before the season started. Then in the spring, Duke lost Katie Blaszak, Jennifer Zika and a number of other players at times. With the loss of Blaszak and Zika, who played at the top and second positions, all players have had to move up in the lineup. Zika has been practicing for the last two weeks and could play in the NCAA Tournament if needed.

All-ACC Honors

At the annual women's tennis banquet prior to the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Championship on April 20, Duke University senior Katie Blaszak was named one of 18 members of the 2005 All-ACC tennis team.

Blaszak, a native of Fairfax, Va., earned the honor for the first time in her career after collecting a 16-10 singles and 12-12 doubles ledger in her final year with the 15th-ranked Blue Devils.

After transferring from Vanderbilt prior to her sophomore campaign, Blaszak has been saddled with injuries during her three-year stint at Duke. She has registered a 35-16 overall singles record and has been ranked as high as 35th in the nation with the Blue Devils.

During the middle of the 2005 spring season, Blaszak was playing the best tennis of her collegiate career as she won eight straight matches and 10 of 11 prior to getting injured once again. Since the injuries began in the middle of March, she finished the season losing six of her last eight contests. During her winning streak, she knocked off four players ranked in the top 91 of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) rankings, had a 14-4 singles record and the Blue Devils went 7-3.

Blaszak was named Co-ACC Player of the Week on Jan. 24 after leading then eight-ranked Duke to a 4-3 victory over 18th-ranked Tennessee. In the match versus the Lady Vols, Blaszak picked up a 7-6, 6-4 victory over the Bryce Marable at the No. 2 singles position to clinch a 4-3 win for the Blue Devils in their first match of the 2005 campaign. She won a very tough first set which ended up being one of the key turning points of the match. In doubles action, Blaszak teamed with Jackie Carleton and posted an 8-2 win at the No. 1 doubles flight over Sabita Maharaj/Ashley Robards, ranked No. 50 in the latest ITA rankings.

Due to a back injury, Blaszak's collegiate tennis career is over as she will not see action in the NCAA Championships.

Along with the All-ACC team, Miami's Megan Bradley was named ACC Player of the Year, Georgia Tech's Kristi Miller was tabbed ACC Freshman of the Year and Georgia Tech's Bryan Shelton was named ACC Coach of the Year.

NCAA Championship History

Duke is appearing in its 17th NCAA Championships and its 16th-consecutive trip to the NCAA's. The program has made appearances in 1988, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2005. Duke has compiled a 30-16 overall record in 16 NCAA Championships appearances.

The Blue Devils established a new precedent 13 years ago in 1992 and matched it in 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999 and 2003 by advancing to the NCAA Final Four. In 1998, Duke advanced to its first national championship match by defeating Arkansas 5-1, Mississippi 6-0, and Stanford 5-4. Duke's run ended with a loss to Florida by a 5-1 margin.

In the program's first 16 years in the NCAA Championship, the Blue Devils have been knocked out by the eventual national champion eight times (Stanford in 1988 and 2004, Florida in 1992, Texas in 1993, Georgia in 1994, Stanford in 1997, Florida in 1998 & 2003).

The 100-Win Club

Senior Saras Arasu picked up her 100th career victory on April 21 against N.C. State and became only the 16th player in Duke history to collect 100 wins in a career. In her four years, Arasu has posted a 101-39 record for a 72.1 winning percentage. A native of Tampa, Fla., Arasu's 29 victories this season is a career-best.

The Head Coach

One of the winningest women's tennis coaches in the nation, Jamie Ashworth enters his ninth season as the head coach of the tennis program at Duke University.

Over the last nine years, Ashworth has led Duke to a 208-40 overall and 67-7 Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) mark, while advancing to the NCAA Final Four five times and notching ACC Tournament titles on six occasions.

In his first full year as a head coach in 1997-98, he led Duke to a school record 27 wins, its 11th consecutive ACC regular season and tournament titles, the school's best final national ranking at No. 2, its third consecutive Final Four and the program's first appearance in the NCAA title match.

The 1998-99 season was no letdown as he guided Duke to 27 wins, its 12th consecutive ACC regular season and tournament titles, its fourth-straight Final Four and a final national ranking of No. 3.

In 1999-00, Ashworth was faced with possibly his youngest team and guided the Blue Devils to a 23-6 record, a 13th consecutive ACC Tournament tile and a Sweet 16 NCAA finish. Then, in 2000-01, he guided the Blue Devils to an Elite Eight finish in the NCAA Tournament and a school-record tying 27 victories. Ashworth led Duke to its 14th consecutive ACC Championship and an undefeated 8-0 ACC regular season. In 2002, Duke posted a 25-5 overall record and won the ACC regular season title with an 8-0 mark. In 2002-03, Ashworth led the Blue Devils back to the NCAA Final Four, tied an ACC record with 30 victories, won the ACC Regular Season title, won the ACC Tournament title and won the National Team Indoor Championship. With one of his youngest teams in his coaching history, Ashworth led Duke to the Elite Eight and a 22-5 mark last season.

After taking over the Duke program on March 20, 1997, Ashworth paced Duke to a 12-1 overall record and a 4-0 conference mark to wrap up the 1996-97 season.

In his first year as an assistant, 1994-95, Duke went 22-6, advanced to the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals and finished the year ranked No. 7.

In 1995-96, he helped pace Duke to a 25-4 mark (then a school record for wins in a season), a trip to the NCAA Final Four and a ranking of third nationally. In 1996-97, Duke advanced to its second straight NCAA Final Four, finishing the year again third nationally. During his term as the assistant coach, the Blue Devils recorded a 59-13 overall record and a 20-0 ACC mark.

Ashworth has coached 15 different All-America selections and four collegiate grand slam champions during his stay with the Blue Devils. That includes four-time All-America Vanessa Webb, the 1998 NCAA singles national champion.

In 2000-01, Ansley Cargill became Duke's second freshman under Ashworth to earn ACC Player and Rookie of the Year after posting a 45-4 overall record. She went on to earn ITA National Freshman of the Year and turned professional over the summer of 2001.

A speech communication graduate of Maryland in 1994, Ashworth was a four-year letterwinner for the Terps. He served as a captain of the team his junior and senior years. Ashworth, a native of Amherst, N.H., resides in Hillsborough, N.C. with his wife, Kelly.