Cities called “Athens” have hosted their fair share of champions.
From the ancient Olympics in Greece to today’s start of the NCAA women’s tennis tournament Round of 16 in Georgia, “Athens” has been synonymous with greatness.
And when No. 10 seed Duke faces No. 7 seed UCLA today in Athens, Ga., the courts will host the previous two national champions.
The Bruins, the 2008 champions, take on the Blue Devils, the defending champions, and look to return to the promised land after a disappointing exit in this stage of the tournament a season ago.
The Bruins enter today’s matchup with plenty more momentum. UCLA (21-3) has not lost a match in more than a month ““ April 3 at Stanford was its last defeat ““ and then the Bruins, playing in the comfortable confines of the Los Angeles Tennis Center, swept both Army and Arizona State in the first and second rounds, respectively.
Meanwhile, Duke (21-7) lost its final regular season match against Miami and fell in the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament against Florida State. However, the Blue Devils picked it up with relatively easy wins over Long Island and Virginia in the opening matches of the tournament.
“Duke’s a strong team,” UCLA coach Stella Sampras Webster said. “They’ve got pretty good doubles. They’re pretty feisty. They have some players on the team that were on (the championship team from last season), so they’ve got a lot of experience.”
Sampras Webster mentioned that one of Duke’s strengths is the middle of its lineup, specifically the No. 3, No. 4 and No. 5 positions occupied by junior Reka Zsilinszka, senior Amanda Granson and freshman Mary Clayton, respectively.
However, one advantage the Bruins have over the Blue Devils is their backcourt players, No. 4 through No. 6 ““ freshmen Pamela Montez and Stephanie Hoffpauir, and junior Maya Johansson have been reliable match-winners for Sampras Webster over the course of the season.
“We’re solid at the top and we’re strong at the bottom,” Sampras Webster said. “That’s where I feel like we’re a better a team. I think we just have the edge, hopefully, with the doubles point.”
If UCLA is able to dethrone Duke today, its likely opponent in the quarterfinals on Saturday is No. 2 seed North Carolina, who was upset in the ACC Tournament by Georgia Tech. The Tar Heels (28-4) play No. 15 seed Florida State (16-10) in their Round of 16 bout, a team they beat 4-0 on two separate occasions earlier in the season.
“You have to go into this tournament to win it,” Sampras Webster said. “Our team really believes that we can get to the Final Four. We have high expectations, and we’ll be really disappointed if we can’t get through.”