The Blue Devils jumped out to an early lead in the first set and seemed poised to claim their 13th victory in 14 games but were unable to hold on against Virginia Tech Sunday.
No. 19 Duke fell 3-2 at Cassell Coliseum in Blacksburg, Va., as the Hokie squad rallied behind an energetic crowd.
Virginia Tech (11-13, 4-7 in the ACC) defeated Pittsburgh Friday night at home, and Sunday’s crowd was ready to help the team end the weekend on a high note with an upset victory. More fans arrived as the match wore on, giving the Hokies support and confidence to mount a comeback and claim the win.
“Cassell is a challenging facility,” head coach Jolene Nagel said. “They get a pretty good crowd and they are passionate about their team. They do a great job of selling their team, and Virginia Tech had had a good game against Pittsburgh, so we knew we would have our work cut out for us.”
The Blue Devils (17-5, 9-2) opened the match by capitalizing on a slow start from the Hokies. The home squad allowed Duke to take advantage of multiple attack errors and catch the defense off-guard, as outside hitters Emily Sklar and Jeme Obeime combined for five kills in the first frame.
Outside hitter Breanna Atkinson was leading all players with three kills when she rolled her ankle with the score 22-16. Anna Kropf stepped up to take the junior’s place on the court. The freshman saw action in all five sets and contributed three blocks and three kills.
“Breanna was on fire,” Nagel said. “She has been having a good year, continuing to get better and better, and that hasn’t allowed many others an opportunity at that position. But I thought Anna got in there today and was doing a good job blocking for us. We will work on making her more of an offensive threat.”
With a Hokie attack error and kills from Sklar and Kelsey Williams, Duke finished the frame 25-18 to take an early lead in the match.
Virginia Tech rebounded in the second set, correcting errors on the serve and adjusting its defense to contain Sklar and Obeime. Kathryn Caine and LaTasha Samson-Akpan stepped up for the Hokies on offense as Duke struggled to block block at the net, each knocking down three kills.
Nagel’s squad kept the score within four points but was only able to take its first lead of the second frame 23-22 after a timeout on a service ace by Sklar. Forced to take a second timeout just a minute later down 25-24, the Blue Devils hoped to slow down the Hokies but were unable to return Meghan Beckwith’s serve, giving Virginia Tech the second set.
Coming out of the locker room after halftime, the Blue Devils incorporated their middle blockers more into the offense to try to make blocking more difficult for the Hokies. Alyse Whitaker and Kelsey Williams combined for three kills in the first half of the set. Sklar also took fewer swings, instead tipping the ball into holes in the Virginia Tech defense.
Duke’s adjustments paid off. The Blue Devils again took an early lead in the set, reaching an eight-point advantage at 18-10.
But this time the Hokies quickly adjusted and fought back to cut the lead to two following a series of errors by Duke’s middle blockers and two service aces by Kyra Coundourides. The Blue Devils regained the set by forcing attack errors and claimed the frame 25-19.
Rallying behind right side hitter Ashley Battle in the fourth set, Virginia Tech again responded by taking a set to tie the game 2-2. Battle recorded 10 kills and four blocks on the afternoon, nearly all of them coming in the second half of the match. Battle’s energy grew after every point, and her emotional leadership brought her teammates and the crowd of almost 800 fans back into the game. The Hokies claimed the fourth set 25-20, bringing the spectators to their feet.
Virginia Tech carried its momentum into the fifth and final stanza, winning four unanswered points before Duke took a timeout. The Blue Devils made up little ground before using their second timeout with the score 11-3.
Coming back onto the court with libero Sasha Karelov at the service line, the Blue Devils made a final stand, knocking down five unanswered points and seeming to regain control of the game after four straight errors on the other side of the net.
But the Blue Devils were not able to fight their way back into the set. The Hokies forced two attack errors and knocked down the final three of their eight total kills in the frame. Virginia Tech took the set 15-10 and the match 3-2.
“Their block and their defense were good, and as the match went on they got better and better,” Nagel said. “We were prepared for them, but I don’t think we took advantage of the opportunities we were given on the court. We tried to get more of the team involved on offense, but they kept us from doing that.”
Sklar led all players on offense with a match-high 19 kills. In the first set, the junior knocked down her 1,000th career kill to become the 23rd player in Duke history to surpass the mark.
“That’s quite an accomplishment,” Nagel said. “But I bet you she would rather have gotten this win today than her 1,000th kill.”
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