No. 6 Vanderbilt Upsets No. 2 Duke in Women's Tennis Elite Eight

Friday, May 18

Stone Mountain, Ga.

TBA

Duke University

Vanderbilt

No. 6 Vanderbilt Upsets No. 2 Duke in Women's Tennis Elite Eight

5/18/2001 1:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis

By: Duke Sports Information

May 18, 2001

STONE MOUNTAIN, Ga. - For the second consecutive match, the second-ranked, third-seeded Duke women's tennis team had to come from behind after losing the doubles point, but the sixth-ranked Vanderbilt Commodores ended up being too tough, taking the match 4-1 in the Elite Eight of the 2001 NCAA Tournament at the Lincoln Tennis Center in Stone Mountain, Ga. on Friday.

Vanderbilt got off to a quick start with early leads at the second and third doubles positions and ended up winning the point to take a 1-0 lead.

Duke was never really in the matches at number two and three as the Blue Devils got as close as 3-5. Vanderbilt's 17th-ranked duo of Sarah Riske/Aleke Tsoubanos downed Duke's 47th-ranked Amanda Johnson/Hillary Adams, 8-4, at the second slot and Jenny Miller/Lauren Rose downed Kathy Sell/Katie Granson, 8-4, of Duke at the third.

At the number one position, Ansley Cargill/Megan Miller of Duke got up 5-2 early and were all even (7-7) with the 15th-ranked tandem of Julie Ditty/Kate Burson when the point was clinched.

The singles action started out even with each team leading three matches. Duke's Johnson kept her string of quick matches going as she won the first set at number three with a 6-1 victory over Miller, but Vanderbilt came back at number four with a 6-1 win by Burson over 30th-ranked Sell and number six with a 6-2 win by Kelly Schmandt over Adams.

Cargill, currently ranked second nationally, next won her first set for the Blue Devils 6-3 over 15th-ranked Ditty, but Vanderbilt's Riske came back from a 4-1 deficit to win 6-4 over 31st-ranked Miller. Duke closed out the first sets with a 6-4 victory by Granson over Tsoubanos. After all first sets were completed, each team had three victories.

Johnson kept rolling as she finished off her match in only one hour against Miller with a 6-1, 6-0 victory to even the match, 1-1, for the Blue Devils, but Burson downed Sell 6-1, 6-4 to give the Commodores a 2-1 advantage.

Texas would go on to take the number six and number two positions to win the match, 4-1. Schmandt defeated Adams 6-2, 6-2 at number six and 38th-ranked Riske earned a 6-4, 7-5 victory over Miller.

Vanderbilt (25-4) will take on the winner of the Georgia/Southern California match on Saturday at 1:00 PM. Duke concludes its season with a 27-2 record. The 27 wins equals the most in school history, while the two losses is the fewest since 1978.

Duke seniors Kathy Sell and Megan Miller conclude their dual match careers as the second and fourth winningest players in school history, respectively. Both still have the NCAA individual competition remaining, which begins on Monday, May 21 in Stone Mountain, Ga. Cargill, Johnson, Sell, and Miller will compete in singles action, while the duo of Miller/Johnson will compete in doubles next week.

Post-Match Quotes

Duke Head Coach Jamie Ashworth
"For some reason, we were defensive today. If we would of gotten off to a better start, maybe it would of been a different story in the end."

"I think what hurt us is we haven't been in a tough match since February. You cannot get away with the things we have been doing these last few weeks against the teams that are here [in the final eight]. Vanderbilt's strength of its conference really helped them today."

Duke's Megan Miller
On ending your career at Duke
"It is bittersweet. You always want to go out with a bang. I cannot look back and regret anything."

Results

Doubles
#1 - Cargill/Miller (DU) vs. #5 Ditty/Burson (VU)
#2 - #17 Riske/Tsoubanos (VU) def. #47 Johnson/Adams (DU) 8-4
#3 - Miller/Rose (VU) def. Sell/Granson (DU) 8-4

Singles
#1 - #2 Ansley Cargill (DU) vs. #15 Julie Ditty (VU) abandoned
#2 - #38 Sarah Riske (VU) def. #31 Megan Miller (DU) 6-4, 7-5
#3 - #10 Amanda Johnson (DU) def. #64 Jenny Miller (VU) 6-1, 6-0
#4 - Kate Burson (VU) def. #30 Kathy Sell (DU) 6-1, 6-4
#5 - Katie Granson (DU) vs. Aleke Tsoubanos (VU) abandoned
#6 - Kelly Schmandt (VU) def. Hillary Adams (DU) 6-2, 6-2