TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The N.C. State men’s golf team’s season ended on Saturday after a ninth-place finish at the NCAA Tallahassee Regional. The top five teams move on to the NCAA Championship next week in Atlanta, Ga. The Wolfpack shot a final-round score of 4-over 292, and finished the 54-hole event at 10-over 874 at the par-72, 6,965-yard course. Freshman Carter Page capped his first season with NC State by firing a 4-under 68, his low round of the season. Page wound up tied for 32nd at 1-over 217. Junior Logan Harrell, who led the Pack through 36 holes, shot a 3-over 75 to tie Page at 217 for the tournament. Junior Albin Choi shot 4-over 76 in what ends up being his final round as a member of the Wolfpack. He tied for 54th at 7-over 223. The All-American

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DURHAM — When the Wolfpack arrived for batting practice at Doak Field at 9 a.m., the coaches and players never imagined that their day at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park wouldn’t conclude until just before 6 p.m. But after the trip across I-40, a two-hour rain delay and a slow-paced game (with only peanut butter sandwiches for sustenance in between), N.C. State beat Duke 9-1 to sweep the final series before the ACC tournament. With Florida State’s win over Clemson, the Wolfpack (42-13, 19-10 ACC) finished second in the Atlantic Division behind the Seminoles. N.C. State will be the No. 4 seed in this week’s ACC tournament, sharing a pool with No. 1 UNC, No. 5 Clemson and No. 8 Miami. “We’re in the same spot we were last year,” shortstop Trea Turner said. “It shouldn’t be too bad, and

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COLLEGE PARK, Md. Eighth-ranked Duke women’s lacrosse team held top-ranked Maryland to five goals in the first 25 minutes, but ultimately fell 14-9 in the NCAA quarterfinals Saturday. Trailing 14-5 midway through the second half, the Blue Devils (14-6) closed the gap with four straight goals, but couldn’t get closer. “I was really proud of our kids, how hard we fought,” said Duke coach Kerstin Kimel. “We got the looks that we wanted to get. I think the thing that hurt us was our turnovers.” Freshman goalkeeper Kelsey Duryea matched a career-high with 15 saves in the loss. Juniors Maddy Morrissey and Molly Quirke led the Duke attack with three goals apiece. Blue Devils sophomore Kerrin Maurer added four assists. Maryland’s Alex Aust led all scorers with seven points on five goals and two assists and Brooke Griffin contributed four

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CHICAGO — Duke center Mason Plumlee said it repeatedly at the NBA Draft Combine: The next 30 days might be more important to his career than the last four years. It sounds counterintuitive: If a big man stays all four years at a high-profile program like Duke, then what could NBA scouts not know about him that is pertinent? But Plumlee knows what a player can do to help or harm himself this late in the process. A year ago his older brother Miles, also a Duke player, surprised at the combine with an impressive 40-inch vertical leap. That created some momentum going into individual-team workouts, and Miles Plumlee ultimately was drafted in the first round, 26th overall by the Indiana Pacers. Mason Plumlee had a slightly less impressive 36-inch vertical. He did the physical testing and measurements, but passed

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If Duke’s history is the precedent, the rest of the newly expanded ACC is in trouble. The Blue Devils have a chance to be historically good in 2013-14. Mike Krzyzewski has taken Duke to the NCAA tournament 29 times in his 33 seasons. He has lost in the round of eight only twice: last season to Louisville (the eventual champion) and in 1998 to Kentucky (the eventual champion). The season following their only other Final Eight loss, the Blue Devils rolled through the ACC to the tune of 19-0, including the conference tournament. With the addition of Syracuse, Notre Dame and Pittsburgh – three Big East teams who made the NCAA tournament last season – the ACC will be considerably tougher than it was 15 years ago, especially with both North Carolina and Virginia with strong teams for next season.

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DURHAM — There were times, Duke goalie Kyle Turri said, when he would be sitting in the stands watching the Blue Devils and imagining himself on the field. His older brother Justin was a two-time All-America midfielder at Duke, so a high school-aged Turri followed the program closely. “I wanted to come here ever since he came,” Turri said of his older brother. “I wanted to follow in his footsteps.” Since Turri, a sophomore, has taken over the starting role, Duke is 11-1 and will play Notre Dame (11-4) at 2:30 Sunday in Indianapolis with a berth in the NCAA lacrosse championship weekend on the line. Duke has appeared in six straight final fours. The No. 7 Blue Devils (13-5) began the year with senior Dan Wigrizer, the starter for Duke’s 2010 national championship, in between the pipes. When concussions

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DURHAM — With her career on the line last weekend, senior Makenzie Hommel, Duke’s leading goal scorer, was frantically looking for an Internet broadcast of the Duke-Princeton women’s lacrosse game as she tried to watch from her couch in Durham. Hommel found one toward the end of the second half, just in time to see her teammates clinch a 10-9, double overtime win at Annapolis, Md., extending their season, and Hommel’s career, by at least one game. And with their second-round win over Navy May 12, the Blue Devils (14-5) earned a spot in the NCAA quarterfinals and will take on unanimous No. 1 Maryland (20-0) Saturday at noon at College Park, Md. Hommel will travel with the team this weekend. Whether she plays, though, is still uncertain. The senior, who leads Duke with 44 goals on the year, has

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