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RIO DE JANEIRO -- Serena and Venus Williams never had lost an Olympic doubles match until Sunday night, going 15-0 and earning three gold medals together.Their first-round opponents at the Rio de Janeiro Games, the Czech Republics Lucie Safarova and Barbora Strycova, never had won any sort of match as a pair, at any event. And they had zero wins between them in Olympic doubles competition, going a combined 0-3 with other partners.So it was rather stunning, to say the least, when the Williams sisters were beaten 6-3, 6-4 by Safarova and Strycova in the first round in Rio.We played terrible, Serena said, and it showed in the results.The American duo was seeded No. 1 and coming off a 14th Grand Slam championship together at Wimbledon a month ago. The Czechs, meanwhile, are unseeded.And get this: They werent even supposed to be playing together at the Olympics. Strycova was a late replacement for Karolina Pliskova, who withdrew from the tournament. Indeed, Strycova and Safarova only had played one match as a team before Sunday -- and they lost that, in a Fed Cup match last year.Thats true, but we are really good friends. We know each others games, said Strycova, never better than a doubles semifinalist at a Grand Slam tournament. I know what I have to do on the court, and she knows what she has to do.Safarova is a strong doubles player, and she won two major titles in 2015 with Bethanie Mattek-Sands of the United States.When the Czechs found out who theyd be facing to start things off in Brazil, Safarova said their reaction was: The draw could be better. And then she and Strycova started laughing.But it was a challenge, Safarova continued, and we love challenges. We had nothing to lose. We stepped out there today and played a great game and deserved to win.This was the 34-year-old Serenas second match of the day: The 22-time major singles champion won her first-rounder in that event earlier Sunday.?The 36-year-old Venus, meanwhile, now has two first-round exits at the Rio Olympics, because she was beaten in singles on Saturday night. After that defeat, Venus did not meet with reporters, but U.S. womens Olympic tennis coach Mary Joe Fernandez said that the seven-time major singles champion had been sick since before she arrived in Brazil.Fernandez also said Venus was dealing with cramping, dehydration and an upset stomach after Saturdays loss. In the doubles, played under the lights, when occasional chants of USA! would rise from some spectators, other members of the crowd would respond with boos.Safarova and Strycova did their best to keep hitting shots toward Venus when she was at the baseline, while Serena was left to stand near the net and watch those exchanges.I wasnt playing the way I needed to play, Serena said. I wasnt crossing the way I need to cross.The Williams sisters appeared to be getting back into the match in the second set, which was even at 4-all. But Venus got broken there, allowing Strycova to serve out the surprising victory.Lucie was playing unbelievable from the baseline, Strycova said. She was hitting amazing winners, returns. At that point, Safarova interjected: And Barbora was a magician at the net. Jeremy Mathieu France Jersey . Brett Kulak and Jackson Houck of the Vancouver Giants were each charged with assault causing bodily harm on Aug. 18, according to the B.C. court services. 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The?NC State Wolfpack?placed sixth, and Wolfpack freshman Dennis Smith Jr. was tabbed ACC Preseason Rookie of the Year.The Blue Devils earned 85 of 91 first-place votes to become the overwhelming ACC favorite. North Carolina, the defending ACC champion and national runner-up, received the other six first-place votes. Allen represented the Blue Devils on the preseason all-conference team witth 70 votes.dddddddddddd Joining Allen on the first team is Jaron Blossomgame (Clemson), Joel Berry II (North Carolina), London Perrantes (Virginia) and Smith (N.C. State).Allen, a 6-foot-5 junior guard, averaged 21.6 points last season and was in double figures in 33 of 35 games. Smith enrolled at NC State in January after tearing his ACL in his senior year of high school. He was picked ahead of Dukes highly-touted and currently injured duo of Jayson Tatum and Harry Giles to be the leagues best newcommer. ' ' '