Whatever It Takes

Dear Wonderful Fans,

I apologize for this delayed blog post but finals have gotten the better of me for the past week. Well, it has been a surreal couple of days since our amazing ACC tournament victory last weekend. I cannot describe in words just how happy we all are and how much this means to everyone. The professionalism and humble confidence with which everyone approached each match was admirable. I am especially proud of our four freshmen that have never been in that position before. The way that they battled and exuded energy definitely inspired us all to work harder and made the fight just as enjoyable as the victory.  As our season draws to an end with the NCAA tournament ahead of us, it inspires a time of reflection on the past year. A quote that Jamie introduced to us as the theme for the ACC tournament sums up this year’s DWT team better than anything I’d be able to come up with – “Whatever it Takes.”

First of all, I must once again mention our fab four freshmen— Annie, Trice, Monica T., and Ester-- and what they have done to transform DWT into more than just a winning tennis team. It is difficult to believe that it was less than a year ago that these girls joined the team. Additionally, I personally can’t believe that they are only freshmen. These girls have been willing to sacrifice so much throughout this year and have been a key driving force to our successes through their maturity, ambition and hard work. What makes this so astounding is the fact that freshmen naturally tend to enjoy (sometimes over- enjoy) the crazies of college years and have to be “watched” so that they don’t harm themselves or the team in the process. But these four, have been nothing but perfect with the professionalism aspect of our team values and have truly raised the level of our program to new heights.

Han and Big Ray have continued to epitomize hard work and commitment throughout the year. There are no harder workers than these two and I believe that they have driven our team to exceed expectations at every practice, Howser workout or lifting session. I cant remember one time where either of them had an excuse or a complaint about anything. Furthermore, they quietly go about fulfilling their roles with complete humbleness. They truly are role models on this team and make DWT a place where we can all grow as people in addition to improving our tennis.

Last but not least, Mary is an example that I’d use when talking about the characteristics of a perfect leader. Throughout this year, I think she has grown into a responsible, assertive and organized person who has led us at every step of the way. She has been the solid rock for our team by keeping the channels of communication open between the coaches and us. Her leadership and friendship means so much to everyone on the team and I’d definitely say that Duke tennis is lucky to have a person like her representing the program.

Throughout this year, we have been able to overcome personal and team obstacles and challenges to do what is best for the team and for the pursuit of our goals. No matter how hard they may have been, every girl has done her absolute best to put others in front of individual interests. Now, we’re busy doing whatever it takes to get through finals week and then we’re going to be doing whatever it takes to reach our ultimate goal of securing another NCAA championship title for the Duke program. It’s going to be a busy couple of weeks but we’re super excited to give it our all!

GO DUKE!

Yours in Tennis,

Monica Gorny and the rest of DWT

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

Thank-you parents

Dear Wonderful Fans,

Thank-you so much for coming out to support us this weekend against both Miami and Florida State. Those were two great wins for us and it would not have been as smoothly achieved if we did not have you all out there supporting us. In addition to the two wins, this weekend was special in so many other ways as well. Firstly, we officially acknowledged Jamie’s amazing wins record and his achievement of becoming the winningest women’s head coach in the ACC’s with a little ceremony and a surprise tennis ball shaped cake. This goes without saying, but we’re extremely proud to be part of this achievement and this Duke tradition that has been developed throughout the years under Jamie’s leadership.

In this short blog, I’d like to acknowledge the people that have sacrificed so much for us and continue to support us through everything— our parents. This weekend was a perfect example of how important our parents have been and are to our successes with them all sitting up in the stands and cheering us on. We had the Capra family, Mrs. Kahan, Mr. and Mrs. Turewitz, Mr. Spicijaric and the Ashworth family all here to show us their love and support. Throughout the season we’re continuously joined by parents who travel across the country in order to show us their support. It’s always comforting to know that we have such wonderful people to help us through when times get tough or when we just need a little encouragement. I know that all the girls on the team are extremely grateful for everything that they do for us (including all the delicious baked goods that we receive on a weekly basis) and we’re always so happy to see their reassuring faces in the stands!

GO PARENTS!

This week marks the last three matches of our regular season. On Thursday we play UNC at 3PM. GTHC! We then play Boston College at noon on Saturday and Maryland at noon on Sunday. Come out and cheer us on!

GO DUKE!

Yours in tennis,

Monica Gorny and the rest of DWT

Jamie Ashworth- The all-time winningest women's head coach in the ACC

Dear Wonderful Fans,

I hope you are all having a wonderfully sunny Monday! The last two weeks have been extremely busy for us with four tough ACC-regular season matches. But, we’re all really happy with our four wins thus far and hope to keep improving leading up to the tournament season.

This weekend was a remarkable time for our program, and more specifically, our coach Jamie Ashworth who made history and became the winningest women’s head coach in the ACC’s after our win against UVA. We are all extremely proud of Jamie for this accomplishment and feel honored to be part of such a program. So, it is only fitting that I provide you with the inside scoop behind our accomplished head coach.

From a tennis standpoint, the results speak for themselves. Its not often that you see a coach with the ability to improve a program the way Jamie has done. DWT has risen to a top-5 caliber team and was ranked as high as 1 in 2009. Amongst the amazing wins record and the quality of recruits to our program (just take a look at our current freshman class for a prime example), Jamie led the 2009 DWT team to win our program’s first NCAA Championship. As if this is not enough, Jamie has multiple ACC championships and ACC regular season championships under his belt. I could probably spend this whole blog and another one listing all of Jamie’s amazing accomplishments but I’m sure the above snapshot gives you a sneak peak. But what about our candy- eating and Mountain Dew -drinking off-court head coach?

Jamie’s love for candy and junk foods is something that we’re all grateful for because we all end up getting a share of the treats in most instances. On just about any trip, there are stashes of caramel apple lollipops (our favorite), jellybeans and various other goodies hidden around just waiting to be discovered. He does not know this yet but on our trip this weekend, we found his jellybeans in the front of the van and may or may not have stolen a few.

From a junk food’s perspective, our annual trips to California come to mind. Whether it is for the All-American tournament or a dual match, we find ourselves enjoying the LA celebrity scene once in a while. Every time we’re in that part of the country, our trip is not complete without a visit to one of Jamie’s favorite dining places— IN-N-OUT Burger. I’m not denying the fact that we all enjoy the occasional junk-food splurge but the excitement that this “sacred” place causes for Jamie (and I must mention Marc here as well), is probably one of the main reasons why this has become an enjoyable junk-food destination for our team. Oh, and of course Jamie has his very own IN-N-OUT Burger shirt (or a couple?) that he whips out once in a while to attest to his love for this chain.

Finally, I cannot forget about Jamie’s avid enthusiasm for busting out into song once in a while. Play a Jimmy Buffet song, and you’re in for a treat. We’ve definitely had our fair share of trips involving some amazing choruses… usually high-pitched and a “tiny” bit out of tune, but amazing nevertheless. And, of course, for all the Jimmy Buffet enthusiasts out there, dining at a Margaritaville is a must, making it another predetermined team destination whenever the opportunity presents itself. Jamie’s hope is to one day become Jimmy Buffet’s buddy… ask him about his plan of action towards achieving this goal and you may be surprised at how genius and well thought out it is!

All jokes aside, Jamie’s coaching and management of our team has made Duke one of the most desired places to attend. I can think of multiple tennis players whose aspiration is to play on this team. We’re all very fortunate to come to an institution of this caliber and be part of a program that Jamie has molded into one of the best in the country, and world for that matter.

GO JAMIE!

Next on our schedule is a trip down to Clemson on Friday and then to Georgia Tech on Sunday. These are two great opportunities and we’re all excited to show them what we’ve got.

GO DUKE!

Yours in tennis,

Monica Gorny and the rest of DWT

DWT Spring Break 2012: Dinsey and a whole lot more...

Dear Wonderful Fans,

I hope that you all had a wonderful spring break! This time of year is probably one of our team’s favorites since we are finally able to play outdoors and enjoy some beautiful sunshine. Last week was definitely one of the most memorable of all DWT trips. We began our spring break trip in the snowy cold with a big win over Notre Dame. We then jetted off to Orlando, Florida where the real, child-like fun began.

For the serious college students that we try to be during the school year, we are not afraid to let our “happy child” sides shine when given the chance. That’s exactly why Jamie’s surprise plans throughout the week were met with squeals, giggling and joy. On day one, we spent the whole day bustling around Universal and Island of Adventure. We warmed up our roller coaster riding with “The Hulk” and then quickly ran off to join the line for the Harry Potter adventures. Our team Hogwarts boff, Hanna, made sure that we knew some background information and exactly where to go as we moved through the amazingly recreated wizarding world. The magical tour would not be complete without a delicious “butter beer” which we waited over half and hour in line for— Definitely worth the wait. Other highlights from our exciting first day includes going on the “rock n’ roll” roller coaster as well as eating the famous turkey legs that are served throughout Disney.

Day two was no less exciting as we spent half the day at Magic Kingdom. The team favorite was definitely the “Space Mountain” ride but “Splash Mountain,” “Pirates of the Caribbean” and the “Monsters Inc.” show were all wonderful! Thanks to Big Ray and Hanna’s efforts to find us fast passes, we managed to do all of this and save some time for character searching at the end. I’m pleased to say that Jamie found both Winnie the Pooh and Tigger to have his photo with and we happened to stumble upon Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck in the parade. I can confidently conclude that DWT is definitely “Disneyed out” from our wonderful adventures!

Just as we thought that there were surely no more plans because of what we had already been treated to, Jamie surprised us with tickets to a Cirque du Soleil show called “La Nouba.” We were all astounded at how talented the acrobats, jugglers, jump ropers and dancers were. This was a first time experience at this type of a show for a lot of us and we were definitely blown away by what we saw.

While we were enjoying all these fun activities (I forgot to mention shopping at the outlet stores), we also spent our mornings practicing and getting used to the outdoor conditions. I think that all the girls will agree that this was a great week of practice that prepared us well for our match against UCF where we won 7-0 and set the foundations for our outdoor season ahead. Next, we travel to Gainesville for our matchup against Florida this Wednesday. Our next home match will be next Saturday at noon against NC State. Come out and cheer us on!

FINAL NOTE: Overall, spring break was a great experience both on and off the court and I would like to especially thank the people that made this all possible for us— Mr. and Mrs. Sheffield. Thanks to these wonderful people, we were able to experience these memorable moments and grow closer as a team. Mr. and Mrs. Sheffield have done so much for Duke Tennis and we are all extremely grateful to have their continued support for our program.

GO MR. AND MRS. SHEFFIELD…. AND DUKE!

Yours in tennis,

Monica Gorny and the rest of DWT.

40th Anniversary of Duke Women's Athletics

Dear Wonderful Fans,

Thank-you so much for coming out and supporting us against VCU this weekend! It’s difficult to compete with a men’s basketball game being scheduled at the same time so we are very grateful for your attendance and support.

40^th anniversary celebrations: As I’m sure you all know, Duke athletics was celebrating the 40^th anniversary of Duke women’s athletics this weekend. It was such a treat for all of us to get to know some of the older alumni as well as see some of our beloved familiar faces that graduated within the past few years. We all attended a dinner on Friday night where we got the chance to talk to the alumni. Additionally, some current and past athletes gave wonderful speeches where they reminisced on their experiences at Duke. This once again showed us how lucky we are to be part of DWT and how the friendships and support network that we form on our team will travel with us beyond Duke and hopefully in the future, we will also come together at these events and be able to look back fondly on our Duke experience.

DWT Tennis Clinic: Last Sunday, we hosted a very well received clinic for children between the ages of 7 and 15 from different tennis clubs in Durham. Initially, the clinic was intended to introduce The Girls Club mentoring program mentees to tennis and our team but unfortunately, they were unable to attend. However, we were pleased to host over 20 children! We played some really fun games throughout the morning with some “snack breaks” as a little boy labeled the breaks in between the games where everyone would run and grab a little treat from the assorted cookies, bars and snack packets that we had available for them. At the end of the fun-filled morning, each child went away with some form of Duke memorabilia in addition to what we hope is a fond memory of spending some time on court with us. All in all, this was a great event for the children and for us, and we hope to host one again in the near future!

This week, we travel to Notre Dame to play on Saturday at 3:30 PM! This should be a great match and we hope that you follow our results online.

GO DUKE!

Yours in Tennis,

Monica Gorny and the rest of DWT.

National Team Indoors: Finals Day

Dear Wonderful Fans,

Unfortunately, things did not go our way today against UCLA. However, the score definitely does not reflect the battle out there. The matches were all very close, with every girl fighting back and making UCLA work for it until the very end. With a few points here and there, the match could have easily gone our way.

After the match, Jamie emphasized that we should take this match as a learning experience and as a measure of what we are capable of achieving. We will have many more similar opportunities ahead of us to battle through and we will be better prepared the next time we’re in this position. As one would expect, we were not very happy chappies today but this tournament proved to us that we have the capabilities to be the best team out there, both on and off court.

Personally, I am really proud to be part of DWT. Having four freshmen on the team that have both the motivation and maturity to work this hard and support the team is a rarity and we have the privilege of having four such girls on this team. If nothing else, this tournament gave us the opportunity to learn a little more about ourselves and each other and it brought our DWT friendship circle even closer together— and at the end of the day, those are the memories that have a lasting impact.

For now, it is back to school and back to the books as we all have some catching up to do… Our next home match is against VCU on Saturday, February 25^th …. We hope you can all make it out to support us!

GO DUKE!

Yours in Tennis,

Monica Gorny and the rest of DWT.