May 14, 2001

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2001 NCAA TOURNAMENT
#2 DUKE (26-1, 8-0 ACC)
May 17-20, 2001 * Stone Mountain, Ga.
Lincoln Tennis Center

DUKE IN FINAL 16 FOR 11TH CONSECUTIVE YEAR
The second-ranked Duke women's tennis team (26-1) accomplished its first two tasks of the 2001 NCAA Tournament on May 11-12 as the Blue Devils downed Campbell and Alabama-Tuscaloosa, 4-0, in each match to advance to their 11th-consecutive NCAA final 16.

Duke (26-1) will next battle the University of Texas (21-8) in the quarterfinals at Stone Mountain, Ga. on Thursday, May 17. Match time will be released on Tuesday, May 15. All matches will be played in the Lincoln Tennis Center. The Lincoln Tennis Center, built for the Olympics, consists of 15 fully lighted courts plus an 8,000-seat stadium adjacent to Stone Mountain. The facility is off Hwy. 78, eight miles from I-285.

The winner of the Duke/Texas match will face the winner of the Vanderbilt (23-4)/UCLA (9-17) match.

Overall, Duke is making its 12th consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance and its 13th overall selection to the "Big Dance." The Blue Devils are ranked second nationally and seeded third in the NCAA Tournament.

NOTING THE BLUE DEVILS
The second-ranked Duke women's tennis team enters the final 16 on a 21-match winning streak and continues to boast the best record in the history of the program at 26-1. The Blue Devils haven't lost a match since Feb. 17 against then second-ranked Georgia (1-4).

Duke's 21-match win streak is the longest winning streak in Blue Devil history. The Blue Devils have been ranked no lower than fourth all season long and have been second for most of the second half of the season. So far this season, Duke has posted 13 victories against top 25 ranked teams and three victories over top 10 ranked opponents. The Blue Devils currently boast three singles players with 30 or more victories heading into NCAA action- Ansley Cargill (41-3), Amanda Johnson (36-4), and Kathy Sell (33-10).

Duke has four singles players ranked in the latest ITA rankings-- Cargill (No. 2), Johnson (No. 10), Sell (No. 30), and Miller (No. 31). The Blue Devils also boast three doubles teams ranked-- Johnson/Miller (No. 9), Cargill/Sell (No. 43), and Johnson/Hillary Adams (No. 47).

MEET THE BLUE DEVILS
Duke's singles and doubles teams have been outstanding all season long with two freshmen, two sophomores, and two seniors making up the lineup for most of the season.

Freshman Ansley Cargill has provided the biggest impact in 2000-01. In the fall, Cargill won Carolina Classic and the Riviera All-American. Then, in the spring she finished second in the Rolex Championships. She has been ranked second nationally for most of the season and was even ranked first nationally for one week.

Cargill has totaled a 41-3 overall record this season with 24 victories coming against ranked opponents. The 41 singles wins is already the sixth-most in a single season at Duke.

Another freshman, Amanda Johnson, has been a key player for the Blue Devils totaling a 36-3 record so far. She is the third-highest freshman ranked in the ITA (Cargill and Nataly Cahana of ODU) as she is ranked 10th nationally. She is 24-1 this season in dual match play and has won 30 of her last 31 matches. She has posted nine victories against ranked opponents. Senior's Megan Miller and Kathy Sell have provided the necessary leadership in their final season for the Blue Devils to be successful. The duo has advanced to two NCAA Final Four's, won four ACC Championships, and three ACC Regular Season titles.

Sell has had a very successful senior season as she hasn't been ranked lower than 30th in the ITA singles rankings. She advanced to the final four of the Rolex Championships back in February and heads to the "Sweet 16" winning 14 of her last 15 matches. Sell has a career singles record of 143-42, which ranks second on Duke's all-time win list.

Miller only appeared in two matches during the fall and has been climbing the rankings in the spring. The 1999-00 All-America selection, is currently ranked 31st with a 22-3 record this season. She currently has a 16-match win streak and owns a career record of 123-34. Her 123 wins ranks fourth all-time.

Sophomore Katie Granson has posted a very successful second year with the Blue Devils. She has tallied a 20-7 singles record and a 13-3 dual match record this season at the four, five, and six slots. Another sophomore, Hillary Adams, has seen most of her action at the five and six positions this year recording a 16-7 record, while sophomore Prim Siripipat has a 16-4 record in her second campaign.

HOME SWEET HOME
Blue Devil freshman Ansley Cargill will be heading home for the NCAA Championships this week. Cargill, who is a native of Atlanta, Ga., has never played at the Lincoln Tennis Center and is expected to have a lot of fans in attendance cheering on the Blue Devils during the week.

POSSIBLE MATCHUP
If Duke and Vanderbilt both win its Sweet 16 match, the Blue Devils will have to go up against Geoff Macdonald, which coached at Duke from 1992-94. During his three years at Duke, Macdonald tallied a 64-12 record and did not lose an ACC match.

LAST TIME WE MET
Earlier this season, Duke traveled to Austin, Texas and the Blue Devils won 4-3. Texas won the doubles point, but Cargill, Johnson, Miller, and Adams all won their singles matches to give Duke the victory.

Both teams used different lineups during the match in March than they are using now.

Overall, Duke owns a 7-6 record in matches against Texas.

TEXAS TIES
Current Blue Devil assistant coach Farley Taylor is an alumnus of the University of Texas. Taylor was a three-time All-America tennis selection and led the Longhorns to the 1995 NCAA Championship.

DUKE'S DOUBLES
Duke's doubles teams have totaled a 92-25 record so far this season and currently boast three ranked teams-- Johnson/Miller (No. 9), Cargill/Sell (No. 43), and Adams/Johnson (No. 47).

Head coach Jamie Ashworth changed the doubles team heading into postseason action as Cargill/Miller, Adams/Johnson, and Granson/Sell will be playing together in the NCAA Tournament.

THE HEAD COACH
Jamie Ashworth is in his fifth season as the head coach of the women's tennis team at Duke University. He served as the interim head coach for half of the 1996-97 campaign and enjoyed his first full year at the helm of the program in 1997-98. Prior to that Ashworth spent over two years as the Blue Devil assistant coach.

Ashworth has been an instrumental part of the last seven years of success in the Duke women's tennis program. In his first full year as a head coach in 1997-98, he led Duke to a school record 27 wins, its 11th consecutive ACC regular season and tournament titles, the school's best final national ranking at No. 2, its third straight Final Four, and the program's first appearance in the NCAA title match.

The 1998-99 season was no letdown as he guided Duke to 27 wins, its 12th consecutive ACC regular season and tournament titles, its fourth-straight Final Four, and a final national ranking of No. 3.

In 1999-00, Ashworth was faced with possibly his youngest team and guided the Blue Devils to a 23-6 record, a 13th consecutive ACC Tournament tile, and a Sweet 16 NCAA finish.

After taking over the Duke program on March 20, 1997, Ashworth paced Duke to a 12-1 overall record and a 4-0 conference mark to wrap up the 1996-97 season. He now owns a career head coaching record of 115-16 and 39-1 in the conference. During his term as the assistant coach, the Blue Devils recorded a 59-13 overall record and a 20-0 ACC mark.

In his first year as an assistant, 1994-95, Duke went 22-6, advanced to the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals, and finished the year ranked No. 7.

In 1995-96, he helped pace Duke to a 25-4 mark (then a school record for wins in a season), a trip to the NCAA Final Four, and a No. 3 national ranking. In 1996-97, Duke advanced to its second straight NCAA Final Four, finishing the year again ranked No. 3 in the country.

Ashworth has coached 12 All-America selections and four collegiate grand slam champions during his stay with the Blue Devils. That includes four-time All-America Vanessa Webb, the 1998 NCAA singles national champion.

A Speech Communication graduate of Maryland in 1994, Ashworth was a four-year letterwinner for the Terps. He served as a captain of the team his junior and senior years. Ashworth, a native of Amherst, New Hampshire, resides in Durham with his wife, Kelly.

NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY
Duke is appearing in its 13th NCAA Championships and its 12th-consecutive trip to the NCAA's. The program has made appearances in 1988, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, and 2000. Duke has complied a 22-12 overall record in 13 NCAA Championships appearances.

The Blue Devils established a new precedent nine years ago in 1992 and matched it in 1996, 1997, 1998, and 1999 by advancing to the NCAA Final Four. In 1998, Duke advanced to its first national championship match by defeating Arkansas 5-1, Mississippi 6-0, and Stanford 5-4. Duke's run ended with a loss to Florida by a 5-1 margin.

In the program's first 12 years in the NCAA Championship, the Blue Devils have been knocked out by the eventual national champion six times (Stanford in 1988, Florida in 1992, Texas in 1993, Georgia in 1994, Stanford in 1997, and Florida in 1998).

DUKE HONORS
Ansley Cargill
ACC Player & Rookie of the Year - April 26
All-ACC - April 26
ITA Player of the Month - April 5
ACC Player of the Week - March 5
ACC Player of the Week - February 19
ITA Player of the Month - November 11

Kathy Sell
All-ACC - April 26
Blue Devil Club Women's Athlete of the Year
James O'Hara Sargent Sportsmanship Award

Megan Miller
All-ACC - April 26

Amanda Johnson
All-ACC - April 26

Jamie Ashworth
ACC Coach of the Year - April 26

NCAA INDIVIDUAL/DOUBLES RELEASED
Duke notched four singles bids to compete in the NCAA Individuals on May 21-25 as Ansley Cargill, Amanda Johnson, Kathy Sell, and Megan Miller all received invitations. It marks only the second time in school history that the Blue Devils received four singles bids to the NCAA individual competition (1997).

Cargill, who was selected the ACC Player and Rookie of the Year, enters NCAA action ranked second-nationally and has posted a 41-3 overall record as a freshman, while Johnson has her highest ranking of the season at 10th nationally. Johnson has tallied a 36-4 record as a freshman with a very impressive 24-1 dual match mark. The duo are two of the top three freshmen in the nation.

Senior's Sell and Miller will be making return trips to the postseason with Miller making her third consecutive trip and the second consecutive trip for Sell. Sell posted a 33-10 record in singles action and is 30th nationally, while Miller is 31st nationally with a 22-3 record. Miller was just named ACC Tournament MVP for the second year in a row.

Duke's ninth-ranked doubles duo of Miller and Johnson received a bid for the doubles competition, while the 43rd-ranked duo of Sell and Cargill were named alternates. The tandem of Miller/Johnson posted a 26-8 record on the season, while Sell/Cargill were 18-2.

ALL-ACC BLUE DEVILS
The second-ranked Blue Devils dominated the All-ACC awards in 2001 as Ansley Cargill, Megan Miller, Kathy Sell, and Amanda Johnson were named All-ACC, Cargill selected Player and Rookie of the Year, and head coach Jamie Ashworth named Coach of the Year.

Taking home top honors of ACC Player and Rookie of the Year was Cargill, a freshman native of Atlanta, Ga, who is currently ranked second nationally in the ITA rankings. During ACC action, Cargill posted a 7-1 singles record and a perfect 8-0 doubles record. She became Duke's second player to be named ACC Player and Rookie of the Year in the same season as Karin Miller did it in 1997. Also, she is the sixth overall Duke player to notch Player of the Year, and the fourth Duke player to be named Rookie of the Year.

Miller, a senior out of Palm City, Fla., earned All-ACC honors for the third time in her four-year career. She led the Blue Devils to their 14th-consecutive ACC Tournament title where she was named MVP.

For the third time in her four years, Sell was selected All-ACC. The Moorestown, N.J. native is Duke's second-winningest player all-time with an 143-42 overall record.

Johnson, a freshman from Bettendorf, Iowa, was Duke's fourth player selected All-ACC after making a huge impact in her first year with the Blue Devils.

Ashworth receives the Coach of the Year award for the first time in his five years at Duke, after guiding the Blue Devils to a 26-1 overall record and 8-0 league mark.

THE RECORD BOOK
The Blue Devils have broken and are approaching a number of women's tennis records at Duke this season.

Duke's 21-match win streak is a school record, the 26 wins is one shy of the school record, Kathy Sell and Megan Miller notched the most career ACC singles wins (30), Sell is second all-time with 143 career wins, Miller is fourth all-time with 123 career wins, and Ansley Cargill has the sixth-best singles win total in school history (41). With hopefully more to come...

DUKE IN THE NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP

13 Appearances * Overall Record: 22-12 (.647)
Final Four Appearances: '92, '96, '97, '98, '99
National Championship Match: '98

PROBABLE DUKE STARTING LINEUP
SINGLES

DOUBLES