DWT: 2012 ACC Regular Season Champs!

Dear Wonderful Fans,

This weekend was definitely one filled with emotion. It was amazing, horrible, joyful and sad all at once. From a tennis perspective it was nothing short of fabulous! It started out with a great win over UNC on Thursday where everyone played with such poise that carried right through to the weekend where both Boston College and Maryland fell victim to some of the best tennis we’ve played this season. And with all that, we are very proudly, the 2012 ACC regular season champions with a perfect 11-0 record in ACC play. We cannot thank-you enough for all your support throughout our regular season. It would have been a complete struggle if we did not have all of you out there supporting us and cheering us on.

From a team perspective, this weekend (my senior weekend) was definitely one of the sadder times in my life. On Saturday night, we had a team dinner at Washington Duke where I felt honored to have both Mary and Jamie say some extremely kind words about me. Needless to say, holding back the tears was an arduous battle. And, as if that was not more than enough, I had a whole match dedicated to me when we played Maryland (sighs). Knowing that my time on this amazing team built on a program of an array of past amazing teams is coming to an end is absolutely heartbreaking. What I will miss more than anything else is the family that I have become part of through the honor of being a part of DWT.

Naturally with something of this importance coming to an end, a torrent of memories floods back… I remember becoming a part of DWT back in 2009, just after the team won the NCAA championship. I remember thinking to myself back then about how lucky I was to be able to come to this amazing school and be a part of such a great team with girls that I looked up to throughout my years in junior tennis. Those girls as well as each of the girls that have subsequently joined our team have been a group of lovely characters that helped me grow and develop throughout the years and whom I consider my sisters. They have been with me through the lows and celebrated with me through the highs and I cannot be more grateful to all of them for what they have done for me. I’ve said this before, but I cannot stress how much more DWT is than just a tennis team— it’s a friendship circle where we will all remain an extended family way past our years at Duke and I am so lucky to be a part of it.

On a different note, I cannot be happier to announce that Mary Clayton will be the captain for the 2012/2013 year! She has been and remains an amazing leader throughout this year and has definitely earned the respect of everyone on the team with her ability to manage the team as well as advise the coaches.

GO MARY!

This week, we finally enter our tournament season! On Friday we play our first round of the ACC tournament at the Cary Tennis Park. If you can come out and support us we’d love to see some Duke faces in the crowd!

GO DUKE!

Yours in Tennis,

Monica Gorny and the rest of DWT