By STEVE WILLIAMS

Expectations run high when most of the key pieces of an already good team are returning.

So anything short of a serious run for the national championship will no doubt leave Wake Forest’s men and Duke’s women disappointed this college season.

The NCAA tourneys are some nine months away but the college teams of next spring will start taking shape as a full schedule is played in September and October.

Some of the best competition of the fall may be the intersquad qualifying at Wake Forest. All five starters and the top two reserves from the 2000-01 team will be staging quite a battle for the chance to tee it up for the Deacons in tournament play.

"We have the luxury of having a deep team," said Wake coach Jerry Haas. "They know they can all improve, and there’s certainly no set lineup yet. The lineup will be open so I’m excited about the prospects."

Jay Morgan, who finished 30th in the NCAA Tournament to lead Wake to a 10th-place finish, is the lone senior.

Cortland Lowe, Brent Wanner and Chris Yoder are back as juniors after playing in the NCAA Tourney and Bill Haas returns after a superb freshman season.

The odd men out last May were Chad Wilfong and Buck Williams, a pair of juniors anxious to prove they deserve starting consideration. Wilfong, of Thomasville, won the North Carolina Amateur over the summer. Williams also had some strong summer performances.

Both Duke and N.C. State will be trying to rebuild their line-ups after making the NCAA Tournament and North Carolina also will be counting on some newcomers.

Duke, which played host to the NCAA finals, didn’t make it out of the regional and will have to reload without Kevin Streelman and Paul Tucker.

Matt Krauss and Brandon LaCroix take over as senior leaders. Junior Leif Olson is the other returning veteran.

Duke coach Rod Myers is counting on continued excellence from Krauss, a three-time All-ACC performer.

"Any time you return a player of Matt Krauss’ caliber, you have to be excited," Myers said.

Sophomores Bobby Castor and Rob Beasley are the best of Duke’s returning bench. Indiana transfer Mike Castleforte, a sophomore, and top freshman recruit Tom Lefebvre are also expected to challenge for playing time.

N.C. State made the NCAA Tourney but didn’t survive the 36-hole cut and now they’ll have to survive without All-ACC performers Chris Mundorf and David Sanchez.

Senior Garth Mulroy, ninth in the ACC Tournament last year, is the top returnee. Junior Jason Moon also returns.

The graduations opened positions for John Carter and Ross Wellington but they’ll have to hold off a solid group of newcomers. Justin Walters joins the Wolfpack after winning the NAIA National Championship for Huntington J.C. and Fernando Mechereffe arrives from Wingate with a NCAA Division II East Region Championship on his resume.

NCSU coach Richard Sykes also has landed some of the state’s top freshmen – Banks Wood, Rodney Thomas and Sutton Barbery.

North Carolina lost two starters (Johno Harris and Rob Simmons) but has the makings of a solid team, led by sophomore Dustin Bray, who led the Tar Heels with a 72.5 average as a freshman.

Sophomore Ramon Bescansa and junior Jeremy Elliott are other returning starters.

Coach John Inman is confident.

"We’re very excited about the upcoming season," he said. "We have a young squad mixed with some experienced players. I’m looking forward to (freshmen) Ward Marslender and Doug Kingston coming in and I think they will complement our team very well."

The four area ACC schools will again by trying to get past perennial powers Georgia Tech and Clemson for the conference’s top honors.

ACC Women

On the women’s side, Duke is the class of the ACC and one of the top-ranked team’s in the nation.

Coach Dan Brooks’ squad posted a school record nine victories last season but settled for second in the NCAA Tourney to Georgia.

The Blue Devils return five All-ACC golfers, three All-America selections, one NCAA individual champ and two ACC champs.

"I think not winning at nationals, but playing well, was a tearful yet inspiring experience," said Brooks. "It will propel us to work even harder."

Senior Candy Hannemann (2001 national champ) and juniors Maria Garcia-Estrada and Kristina Engstrom also bring back plenty of experience. Garcia-Estrada won the ACC individual crown as a freshmen but fell out of Duke’s starting five as a soph. Engstrom is a two-time All-ACC player.

Sophomores Virada Nirapathpongporn and Leigh Ann Hardin are two of the best young players in the country.

If any of the veterans slump, Duke has a highly-regarded recruit ready to move in. Niloufar Aazam-Zanganeh is a four-time Swiss Juniors and Ladies National champion with three international wins also to her credit.

Wake Forest is in a similar situation as Duke, with only one starter to replace and some talented players ready to make their marks.

Marta Prieto has graduated but Nura Clau, Marie Beautell, Katie Brenny and Deborah Means all return.

Returnees Caroline Stetler and Camile Lee are anxious to challenge for playing time but freshmen Ashley Hoagland and Christine Hallstrom may be hard to keep out of the lineup.

"It is going to be a strong team this year," Wake coach Dianne Dailey said. "Our depth will provide a lot of that strength. We will miss Marta, but this team will be so balanced. They are really going too have to practice and play hard to start."

North Carolina has a veteran team with all five starters (Ashley Prange, Heather Angel, Abby Spector, Shelley McKivitt and Beth Lever) returning.

"We’re excited about the upcoming season. Everyone will be back and we’re thrilled about the addition of (freshmen) Meghan Adams and Romi Irons," said coach Sally Austin.

N.C. State, in just its second year, continues to build under the guidance of coach Page Marsh Lea.

All starters return and Lea has brought in a strong group of freshmen.

Among the other Division I teams in the state, UNC-Wilmington, UNC-Greensboro and East Carolina ended the 2000-01 season ranked in the top 100 in the country.

UNC-W has three starters returning, including Derek Brown, who averaged 74.7 as a freshman. UNC-G will be trying to replace two starters but has Jason Martin, John Hancock and James Stafnofski back. East Carolina lost number one man Marc Miller but has five experienced players (including Jonathan Hill) returning along with Tennessee transfer Jason Harris.

Campbell University has the potential to make the NCAA field this season with junior Sharon O’Neill back to lead the way. Three other starters return from the Trans-Atlantic Conference champions.

UNC-Wilmington has everybody back including Big South rookie of the year Courtney Pomeranz. Two freshmen will push for playing time.

UNC-Greensboro returns four starters including All-Conference players Jessica Fought and Jenny Gleason.

Pfeiffer dominated play in the state among Division II teams and finished sixth in the nation. The return of four all-conference players (Andrew McArthur, Ben Case, Ben St. John and Luke Poulter) will keep the Falcons in lofty territory again this year. Senior Brandon Turner may be ready to fill in the open spot in the lineup but two other returnees and a several promising freshmen will also be trying to reserve some tee times.

Lenoir Rhyne’s Meghan Jolly finished sixth in the NCAA Division II Championship last spring and with her back for her senior year, the Bears might make a run to qualify as a team.

Guilford, Greensboro College and Averett should be sensing an opening this year as perennial Division III power Methodist is rebuilding after losing all five starters.

Although Methodist was ranked No. 1 most of the season, Guilford got the best of the Monarchs in the NCAA Tournament by one shot. But the Quakers came up one tantalizing stroke short of Wisconsin Eau-Claire and settled for second place.

Coach Jack Jensen’s team may be the team to beat going into the fall season in light of Methodist’s heavy losses. But it’s widely known that the Fayetteville team has been through this before and just reloads. James Stewart, who saw some time in the lineup as a freshman, leads Methodist’s all-new cast.

The Quakers lost only Clint Fields to graduation.

All-American Andrew Biggadike (third in NCAA) leads the returning cast. Fellow seniors Andrew Eversole and Savio Nazareth also return although Eversole will miss the fall campaign while studying in Bejing.

Soph Dave Patterson is the fourth returning starter.

"I hope the momentum at the NCAA Division III National Championships will continue and we will have another outstanding season," said Jensen. The absence of Eversole this fall may help in the long run. "It gives others opportunities to play in serious competition and allows them to gain valuable experience."

Greensboro, the 2000 national champion, and Averett finished fifth and ninth, respectively, in the 2001 nationals and both teams return everybody.

Coach Robert Linville’s team has 2000 national champ Kevin O’Connell and Kevin Angle back to form a superb 1-2 senior combination. Add to that returning starters Brandon Brookshire, Jonathan Dudley and Brandon White and you can see why Greensboro is thinking big. If they need more to be excited about, then add Adam Holowczak to the mix. He was redshirted a year ago after being part of the national championship the year before.

Averett returns superstar Janne Mommo and two of his friends from Finland, Toni Karjalainen and Kalle Laukkanen. Also back are Jeff Johnston and Sam Hodges.

Boston Craddock, one of the top high school players in Virginia last year, is also in coach Jim Gourlay’s plans.