THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, May 8, 1995 TAG: 9505080132
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PAUL WHITE, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Short : 40 lines
Top-seeded Duke overwhelmed No. 3 Virginia Commonwealth, 4-0, in the final of the NCAA Region II tennis championships Sunday at the Old Dominion Tennis Complex.
The Blue Devils dropped only five games in winning two doubles matches to earn one team point, then swept three singles matches in just over an hour to complete their stunningly one-sided victory.
``I just told the guys this was probably the best match I've ever been involved in,'' said Duke coach Jay Lapidus, a former touring pro completing his fifth year with the Blue Devils. ``All six guys were just clicking so well.''
The victory, the Blue Devils' seventh in a row, propelled them into the 16-team NCAA Finals, which begin Thursday at the University of Georgia.
That Duke (23-4) got through this regional was hardly a surprise. The Blue Devils already beaten the other five tournament teams during the regular season. But VCU was missing two injured players, including No. 1 Richard Wernerhjelm, when it dropped a 7-0 decision to the Blue Devils on March 29.
``I was expecting a war this time,'' Lapidus said.
But a healthy VCU still didn't match up with the streaking Blue Devils. Adam Gusky and Nick Walrod downed Wernerhjelm and Anders Bjorkholm, 8-2, at third doubles, and Chris Pressley and Philippe Moggio scored an 8-2 triumph over Fredrik Wickstrom and Manuel Kropfreiter at second doubles to give Duke early command of the match.
VCU coach Paul Kostin said he thought his Rams would be in good shape even without success in doubles. Kostin thought wrong. Gusky pounded Wickstrom at No. 4, Moggio rolled past Sebastian Preachat at No. 5 and Sven Koehler downed Kropfreiter at No. 6 to close things out. by CNB