The No. 43 University of Virginia's women's tennis team (8-6, 2-3) made history Saturday, beating No. 10 Duke (9-4, 2-1) in convincing fashion 5-2 at the Indoor Tennis Stadium at the Boar's Head Sports Club. The victory marked the first time in Virginia's history that the team upended a top-10 opponent. It was also the first win over perennial ACC power Duke in 32 attempts.
The Cavaliers captured the first point of the match in doubles play and never looked back. Virginia's Caroline Hammond and Amanda Rales fell early 8-5, but the duo of Rachel DelPriore and Douglas Wink rallied the team with a come-from-behind 8-6 victory in their match.
With the doubles point hanging in the balance, the stage was set for the most anticipated doubles match of the afternoon -- Virginia's No. 15 doubles team of Kristen James and Lori Stern versus Duke's No.17 team of Daniela Bercek and Jackie Carleton. James and Stern jumped out to a commanding 6-1 lead behind sound play which frustrated their opponents into making mistakes.
"We came out playing strong," James said. "I think we shocked [Bercek and Carleton] with our play."
Though Duke managed to rally and bring the score back to 6-4, the Cavaliers' James and Stern reclaimed control of the match by winning the 11th game. After a controversial call that awarded Duke a point on what seemed to be a forehand winner by Stern down the sideline, the duo won three of the last four points to capture the match 8-4.
"Duke settled after our early surge," James said. "That [disputed call] refocused us, though. We won because we played hard and didn't get rattled."
The Cavaliers continued their winning ways in singles play, securing victories in four of the six matches. Stern was the first Cavalier to best her opponent in singles play, notching a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Duke's Tara Iyer. Wink followed suit by downing Bercek, who came into Saturday's match ranked No.2 nationally in singles play. Wink's 6-4, 6-1 resounding victory over Bercek marked one of the greatest individual performances in Virginia women's tennis history.
"It feels really good beating an opponent like" Bercek, Wink said. "It's good to see all our hard work paid off."
Wink's win put Virginia up 3-1 in team points -- just one shy of victory. Pereira provided that last point with a victory over Duke's Kristen Cargill, winning in straight sets, 6-3, 7-6.
"We feel really happy right now," head coach Mark Guilbeau said. "This [victory] is what teams that work hard deserve."
Virginia's last win against Duke came well before any of the current players were even alive -- a 7-2 blowout in Charlottesville on Oct. 3, 1980. The senior Wink echoed Guilbeau's sentiments on the win.
"It's amazing," Wink said. "We put forth a team effort and finally pulled one out."
Play on Sunday was not so kind to the women's tennis team. Less than 24 hours after beating Duke, the Cavaliers lost to visiting No. 5 North Carolina 6-1. The team, nonetheless, remains pleased about this weekend's performance.
"The girls just need to keep believing," coach Guilbeau said. "I feel good about the way the girls played."
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