Upcoming Event: Women's Tennis at Kitty Harrison Invitational on September 12, 2025
Women's Tennis
at Kitty Harrison Invitational
Sunday, April 14
Durham, N.C.
TBA
Duke University
5
vs
2
North Carolina
Duke Claims 14th ACC Regular Season Title Sunday With 5-2 Win Over North Carolina
4/14/2002 1:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
April 14, 2002
DURHAM, N.C. -- For the 14th time in the last 15 years, the Duke women's tennis team claimed the ACC Regular Season Championship on Sunday with a 5-2 victory over seventh-ranked North Carolina. The match began outside in the Ambler Tennis Stadium and then was forced to move to the Sheffield Indoor Tennis Center due to inclement weather.
With the victory Duke receives 1.5 points towards the Carlyle Cup, a year long competition between Duke and North Carolina. UNC currently leads the competition 24-11. The Blue Devils will now receive the number one seed in the ACC Championship played in Raleigh, N.C. at the Millbrook Exchange Park from Thursday-Sunday (Apr. 18-21).
The Blue Devils quickly took a 1-0 advantage by taking the doubles point. Duke received wins at the top two positions as Kelly McCain/Hillary Adams knocked off Marlene Mejia/Julie Rotondi (8-3) and 42nd-ranked Amanda Johnson/Julie DeRoo defeated Kendall Cline/Aniela Mojzis (8-6). These two Blue Devil doubles tandems have been hot as of late winning a combined 13 consecutive matches. The duo of Johnson/DeRoo have won nine in a row and own a team-best 13-1 doubles mark.
In the other doubles match at the third position, North Carolina's Kate Pinchbeck/Lee Bairos downed Katie Granson/Susie Abromeit (8-6). Duke has taken the doubles point in 10 consecutive matches.
Once singles action began, there were two brief rain delays before moving inside the Sheffield Indoor Tennis Center. Just a few minutes after moving inside, North Carolina's 64th-ranked Rotondi defeated 26th-ranked DeRoo to even the match 1-1. It would't last long as Duke's Granson downed Cline (6-0, 6-2) to put the Blue Devils up 2-1. Granson has won eight of her last nine singles matches.
North Carolina's Mojzis next evened the match 2-2 with a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Duke's Ioana Plesu, but the Blue Devils quickly went back up 3-2 with a 6-1, 6-3 win by 77th-ranked Saras Arasu over Lee Bairos. McCain, a freshman ranked third nationally, then clinched the victory for the Blue Devils with a 6-1, 6-4 victory over 28th-ranked Mejia. In the final singles match, Duke's 30th-ranked Johnson battled back to take a 6-7, 6-1, 6-2 victory over 27th-ranked Pinchbeck.
Duke (21-3, 8-0 ACC) has now won 20 consecutive ACC regular season matches and 101 of the last 102 regular season contests. In overall matches against ACC opponents, Duke has won 134 of the last 135 matches dating back to the 1988-89 season. UNC falls to 19-4, 7-1 ACC.
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Duke Head Coach Jamie Ashworth Post Match Comments
"I think getting the doubles point was huge today. It set a good tone for the singles match."
On winning the 14th ACC regular season title in last 15 years
"Our national success has been built on the ACC success. We have now put ourselves in position to do good things, but everything we have done up until now is over. We now head to the ACC Championship and need to keep playing well."
On being No. 1 seed in ACC Championship
"It is big now with the format because we have a day off in the middle, which is important. We now avoid the number two and three seeds, who will most likely be Wake Forest and North Carolina. Each of those teams are ranked in the top 10 nationally."
#5 Duke 5, #7 North Carolina 2 Singles 1. #3 Kelly McCain (Duke) def. #28 Marlene Mejia (UNC) 6-1, 6-4 2. #30 Amanda Johnson (Duke) def. #27 Kate Pinchbeck (UNC) 6-7, 6-1, 6-2 3. #64 Julie Rotondi (UNC) def. #26 Julie DeRoo (Duke) 6-1, 6-2 4. Aniela Mojzis (UNC) def. Ioana Plesu (Duke) 6-1, 6-3 5. #77 Saras Arasu (Duke) def. Lee Bairos (UNC) 6-1, 6-3 6. Katie Granson (Duke) def. Kendall Cline (UNC) 6-0, 6-2Doubles 1. Hillary Adams/McCain (Duke) def. Mejia/Rotondi (UNC) 8-3 2. #42 DeRoo/Johnson (Duke) def. #36 Majzis/Cline (UNC) 8-6 3. Pinchbeck/Bairos (UNC) def. Granson/Susie Abromeit (Duke) 8-6
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Players Mentioned
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