We're Going to Madison!

For the first time in two years Duke Women's tennis is heading to Madison, Wisconsin as one of sixteen teams to make it to the National Indoor tournament! We are so excited! This is a great opportunity to play against the best teams in the country and we are definitely up to the challenge :)

Today's match was a successful one against the Ohio State Buckeyes. Despite some unforeseen challenges that arose with my being sick with food poisoning and Tara's nagging knee injuries, we were able to make it through the day. Doubles started off with a bang with Reka and Ella winning a promising match against a tough #3 team. It definitely gave both Melissa and me a boost of confidence to see our two underclassman playing so well. Jess and Mallory were competing hard against a very good team as well, but came up short and lost in a tough match. Melissa and I were left to battle it out to determine who would win the doubles point, and thanks to some great poaching by Mang and solid play on both of our parts we were able to clinch the doubles point for the team!

Taking the ten minute break in between doubles and singles, everyone was fired up to get out on the court again and take on the Buckeyes one on one. I was questioning whether I would be able to play because I was still feeling really sick, but decided to give it my best effort. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough and I ended up losing 6-4, 6-3. It was a disappointing loss, but my teammates really came through in the rest of the matches! Reka, always the solid player, dominated her opponent and gave us a 2-0 lead. Melissa finished up next with a convincing win at #5, closing out a close second set to give us a 3-0 lead. Clinching the match for the second time this season, Mallory Cecil played unbelievably against Kristen Flowers and won her match at the #1 spot!

The crowd was VERY supportive and it was so much fun to see everyone rallying behind us. I think the Duke Field Hockey team deserves a big shout-out for today- they came out in full force and had even made signs for each one of us with things like "Eureka" and "Don't Mess with Jess" written all over them! Crazy Towel Guy also came by after the basketball game- he has certainly proven to be one of our biggest supporters over the past two seasons and it's always great to see him in the stands!

Until next time...