Wake Forest Athletics
Deacons Open ACC Championships Thursday
4/19/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
April 19, 2011
ACC Championships Bracket 
| Tournament Central
The Wake Forest women's tennis team will make the short trip down I-40 to Cary, N.C. for the ACC Championships, which will be held Thursday-Sunday at Cary Tennis Park.
The Demon Deacons (6-15, 0-11 ACC) received the No. 12 seed in the tournament and will face fifth-seeded Florida State (12-7, 7-4 ACC) in the first round on Thursday at noon. The Wake Forest men's tennis team will be playing its first match of the tournament at the same time against Clemson, and Deacon fans are encouraged to come down to Cary and support both teams.
Deacons in the Rankings The latest ITA rankings, which were released Tuesday, Wake Forest's top singles and doubles teams on pace to receive repeat berths in the NCAA Individual Championships.
2010 All-ACC honoree Martina Pavelec is ranked No. 37 in singles and will be looking to earn her second consecutive berth to the NCAA Singles Championships.
The Demon Deacons' No. 1 doubles team of Kayla Duncan and Kathryn Talbert are ranked No. 22 in the ITA doubles rankings. Both players made the NCAA Doubles Championships last season, Talbert partnering with Sasha Kulikova (`10) and Duncan at her former school TCU with Katariina Tuohimaa. Duncan and Tuohimaa reached the second round of the tournament.
Wake Forest slipped to No. 61 in the team rankings after losses last weekend to Maryland and Boston College.
Wake Opens the ACC Championships vs. FSU The 12th-seeded Demon Deacons begin the 2011 ACC Championships against FSU. The Seminoles look to be a tough draw as they enter the tournament red hot, fresh off of wins over No. 3 Duke and No. 4 North Carolina last weekend. They are the only ACC team to defeat both the Blue Devils and the Tar Heels this season.
The Deacons and the Seminoles squared off earlier in the season in Tallahassee, with Florida State coming out on top 6-1. Kayla Duncan posted Wake Forest's only win in the match, knocking off Ruth Seaborne 7-6, 7-6.
Tough at the Top There has been no denying that Wake Forest has had a top-heavy lineup this season, but that comes as little surprise as the Demon Deacons have only seven players on this years' roster, meaning that depth can at times be an issue.
Wake has gone 12-9 at No. 1 singles this season, with Martina Pavelec playing all but one match at the top position. While the Deacs have struggled at the No. 2 spot, they have posted a winning record at No. 3 singles where Emilee Malvehy and Kayla Duncan have taken most of the playing time.
Wake Forest's doubles wins are similarly distributed. The Deacs are 12-9 at both No. 1 doubles and 11-10 at No. 2 doubles, but have gone only 4-17 at the No. 3 position.
Duncan and Talbert Form a Top Doubles Team Kayla Duncan and Kathryn Talbert had a history of doubles success, with both making the NCAA Doubles Championship with different partners last year. This season they have joined together to form a new formidable doubles team.
The duo entered the dual match season ranked No. 14 in the country, making them the highest-ranked Wake Forest doubles team since 2002 when All-Americans Bea Bielik and Janet Bergman finished the season ranked No. 3.
Duncan and Talbert have posted a number of impressive wins, including two victories over NC State's then-No. 7 team of Sandhya Nagaraj and Sanaa Bhambri, as well as an upset of No. 5 Shinnan Featherston/Lauren McHale (North Carolina).
Last season, Talbert received a bid to the NCAA Doubles Championship with Sasha Kulikova (`10), while Duncan reached the second round of the tournament while at TCU with partner Katariina Tuohimaa.
Duncan Peaking at the Right Time Kayla Duncan has sprung into form down the stretch, posting some of her best singles wins of the season. The Winston-Salem native's streak of success started against Clemson, where she was forced into the No. 3 position with Kathryn Talbert out of the lineup and put forth one of her most dominating efforts of the year, cruising by No. 113 Nelly Ciolkowski 6-1, 6-2.
Duncan notched another ranked win against Florida State, edging No. 109 Kayla Rizzolo 6-3, 3-6, 1-0 (9) and followed it up the following weekend with a straight-set victory over Virginia Tech's Shannon Betts. She then ended the regular season with another ranked victory, easily dispatching No. 103 Katarina Gajic 6-4, 6-2.
The junior led the team with five ACC singles wins and is showing the talent that saw her honored as a two-time All-Mountain West selection in her two years at TCU.
Players Mentioned
