ATHENS -- With the Duke women's tennis team making the NCAA semifinals, a Duke women’s team is in a national semifinal in the state of Georgia for the second time in six months. The Blue Devils women’s soccer team reached the finals of the College Cup at Kennesaw State in December, losing to Stanford.
The Duke men’s basketball team had the chance to play for a spot in the Final Four at the South regional at the Georgia Dome in March, but lost to Lehigh in the first round.
The No. 3 Blue Devils, who beat Georgia’s sixth-seeded team Saturday night, are seeking their second title in four years. With one title each, Duke and Georgia Tech are the only ACC schools to have won NCAA titles. The remainder have been won by Stanford (16), Florida (five), Georgia, USC and Texas (two each) and UCLA (one)
Duke’s Monday match against Florida will be a rematch of a 5-0 Gators win in Gainesville, Fla., in March. The Blue Devils have not lost since, 18 wins in a row.
“When we lost that match, all the girls said that hopefully we would have the chance to play them again,” Duke coach Jamie Ashworth said. “We’re definitely looking forward to that opportunity.”
Doubles boost for UCLA
The UCLA men got a huge boost from their No. 1 doubles team of Alex Brigham and Adrien Puget Sunday. In the match that decided the doubles point against Ohio State, Brigham and Puget beat the top-ranked doubles team of Chase Buchanan and Blaz Rola, 8-6. The Brigham/Puget team is ranked 44th in the country.
UCLA coach Billy Martin conceded he wasn't counting on Brigham and Puget to pull the upset.
"Those guys came up with the goods," Ohio State coach Ty Tucker said.
UCLA, ranked No. 4 in the country, has reached the national semifinals for the 12th time in Martin’s 19 seasons, but has won only one championship in that span.
Streaking Gators
The Florida women’s team, which will play Duke Monday in a semifinals match, has yet to be scored upon in its four tournament wins, the only team on the women’s side that can make that claim.
The second-seeded Gators are a combined 18-0 through four NCAA matches by virtue of having won their second-round match over Washington State 6-0, two points more than the standard victory total. In that match, the score was 3-0 in Florida’s favor when three singles matches played match point simultaneously, and the Gators won all three.
Florida's top five singles players are ranked in the top 80 by the ITA. Allie Will is the top-ranked player in singles and is part of the top-ranked doubles team with Sofie Oyen.
"Florida is one of the toughest, physically, teams in the country," said Miami coach Paige Yaroshuk-Tews, whose team lost to Florida in the quarterfinals.
Sound scene
USC’s team and fans at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex were treated to a tune familiar to any college football fan – the Trojans’ “Fight On” fight song. The Trojans were backed Sunday by an 11-member pep band that the athletic department flew out Saturday, common procedure for a USC team at an NCAA championship event.
"Does it get any better than that?" USC coach Peter Smith said.
Cavs ready
The third-seeded Virginia men's team reached its fifth semifinal in the past six years with its 4-0 win over Stanford. Jarmere Jenkins of College Park teamed with Drew Courtney to give the Cavaliers the clinching doubles point in a 9-8 (2) match. Jenkins, ranked No. 4 in the country in singles, was leading his match at No. 1 singles when the overall match was clinched for the Cavaliers.
“Jarmere and I were having fun,” Courtney said. “We just kind of took it point by point and had a blast out there.”
Virginia, runner-up a year ago to USC, is playing for its first NCAA title, which would be the first for an ACC school.
"This team is ready for this tournament," Virginia coach Brian Boland said.
Etc.
Georgia quarterback Aaron Murray attended the match Sunday. … Attendance for Sunday was 3,167. … The women's semifinals will be at 1 p.m. Monday. The men's semis will begin at 5 p.m.
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