Duke Falls Just Short In 4-3 Decision To Texas In Indoor Semifinal

Saturday, February 4

Madison, Wis.

4 p.m.

Duke University

Texas

Duke Listed Second Among SMASH Magazine?s Men?s and Women?s Top Tennis Schools

Duke Falls Just Short In 4-3 Decision To Texas In Indoor Semifinal

2/4/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis

By: Duke Sports Information

MADISON, Wis. ? The No. 13 Duke women's tennis team ended its hot streak Saturday, suffering a narrow loss to Texas, 4-3, in the semifinals of the USTA-ITA National Team Indoor Championships. For the first time this year, the match was not decided until the sixth singles match, which Texas won in a third set. For the second year in a row, Duke made a 4-0 start to the season, losing for the first time in the team indoor semifinal.

The Blue Devils got off to a good start, winning the doubles point for the fifth straight meet. No. 41 Jennifer Zika and Melissa Mang, undefeated in dual-match doubles this season, started the action by finishing first on court three with an 8-5 win over Kelly Baritot and Courtney Zauft. Jackie Carleton and Kristin Cargill clinched the point by rolling over Petra Dizdar and Marija Milic, 8-1, at the No. 2 position. No. 10 Daniela Bercek and Jessi Robinson's match against Mia Marovic and Kendra Strohm was not finished on court one.

Sixth-ranked Bercek got the singles off to a good start by handing No. 55 Strohm a 6-1, 6-0, loss at the No. 1 position, but Texas won the next three matches to go ahead of the Blue Devils 3-2. Freshman Tara Iyer put up a fight but lost, 6-4, 6-4 to No. 61 Marovic at No. 3. Zika lost a close 7-5 in the first set to Baritot and went down 6-3 in the second on court five, while Mang did just the opposite at No. 4, ending a four-match undefeated streak with a 6-3, 7-5, loss at No. 4.

Carleton started to turn things around, putting Dizdar away, 6-2, in the first set on court two and pulling away with a win in a closer second set, 7-6 (5), to take the match. Knotted at three, both Duke and Texas needed a win at No. 6 to advance to the team indoor finals. Ristine Olson went up in the first set over Cargill, 7-5, but the Duke junior bounced back in the next set, winning 7-6 (6). Olson came away with the win, however, topping Cargill 6-1 in the final set.

The Blue Devils were making their ninth appearance in the semifinals of the prestigious tournament in the last 11 trys. Bercek, a transfer from UCLA following her sophomore season last year, is undefeated in dual-match singles as a Blule Devil through five contests. Duke upset No. 8 Baylor, 5-2, Thursday and defeated No. 18 California, 4-3, Friday to advance to the semifinal against Texas. The Longhorns will take on top-ranked Stanford in the title match at noon Sunday.

Results
Doubles
1. Bercek/Jessi Robinson (10) vs. Marovic/Strohm (31), Did not finish
2. Carleton/Cargill def. Dizdar/Marija Milic Duke 8-1*
3. Zika/Mang (41) def. Baritot/Zauft Duke 8-5
Duke wins doubles point
Singles
1. Daniela Bercek (6) def. Kendra Strohm (55), 6-1, 6-0
2. Jackie Carleton (27) def. Petra Dizdar, 6-2, 7-6(5)
3. Mia Marovic def. Tara Iyer, 6-4, 6-4
4. Courtney Zauft def. Melissa Mang, 6-3, 7-5
5. Kelly Baritot def. Jenny Zika, 7-5, 6-3
6. Ristine Olson def. Kristin Cargill, 7-5, 6-7(6), 6-1*
Order of finish (singles): 1, 3, 5, 4, 2, 6
* - clinched win

Records: Texas 3-2, Duke 4-1

(Fila national ranking in parenthesis)

Notes: The match came down to No. 6 singles where Ristine Olson clinched the victory....Texas
advances to the championship match on Sunday where it will face Stanford at 11 a.m. CT....This will be a
rematch of the 2005 NCAA final ? a 4-0 Stanford win...Texas lost its opening two matches of the season
prior to this week's tournament, but has rebounded to become the first team to ever reach the final in their
first USTA-ITA appearance....Texas' Marovic and Baritot are 3-0 in singles this week; Duke's Bercek also
went 3-0 at No. 1....UT coach Patty Fendick-McCain coached Washington to the USTA-ITA semifinals in
2004...Duke was looking to reach their fourth final in Madison...Blue Devils lost in semifinals for second
year in a row by 4-3 score and falls to 3-7 in 10 semifinal appearances....Duke leads series against UT
13-7...All three of Texas' wins this week have come against teams ranked higher than it in the Fila
Rankings.

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