The volleyball team continued its dominance over Florida State on Friday night, earning the Blue Devils' 11th-consecutive victory over the Seminoles. The 15-7, 8-15, 15-13, 15-11 win also sustained Duke's perfect record in Florida State's Tully Gym.
The Blue Devils (9-11, 5-3 in the Atlantic Coast Conference) overcame a stellar performance from Seminole Aisha Thornton, the ACC leader in hitting percentage, whose 28 kills in the 2-hour, 21-minute match was a career high. With the loss, Florida State's record falls to 17-4 overall, 4-3 in the ACC.
Duke was led by sophomore Sarah Peifer's 22 kills and 25 digs. The Blue Devils were also sparked by an excellent performance from senior Maureen Reindl, who came off the bench for 8 kills and 10 digs.
"I think the key was our consistency in the way we played," coach Linda Grensing said. "Our kids did a good job of creating a lot of kills and converting for points. Maureen gained huge strides in momentum for us at times when we were a little flat emotionally. She came off the bench for very aggressive and dramatic plays which really sparked us."
Capitalizing on Florida State errors throughout the marathon match, the Blue Devil defense, led by Piefer, Reindl and Jenny Stadler, frustrated the Seminole offense. Leading 12-9 in the fourth and final game, the Blue Devils survived 20 consecutive side outs before pulling out the 15-11 victory.
"We played good defense and made them play the ball," Reindl said. "We did a really good job of channeling the ball to our diggers."
Individually for Duke, Jami Ediger led the team with a .239 hitting percentage and Kristen Campbell contributed 49 assists. Defensively, Stadler helped out with 15 digs, while Campbell and Megan Irvine each had 11. As a team, the Blue Devils worked to expose the Seminoles' weaknesses.
"We did a good job of taking what we knew about Florida State and using it to our advantage," Grensing said. "We paid attention to what Florida State players would do when they attacked the ball, and we were able to force them to make a lot of errors that way."
The win was a very important one for Duke, as the ACC standings are currently very tight. Teams in the middle of the conference pack, like Duke and Florida State, have very similar records. With this win, Duke enters into a three-way tie with Clemson and North Carolina for second place in the ACC.
"It was really important that we win, because we want to be in the top two in the ACC," Reindl said. "I think it was frustrating because Florida State is a much better team than they were in previous years, and now the conference is so close and every match counts for a lot."
The Blue Devils will look for another big win on Thursday night, when undefeated Maryland (15-0, 6-0) visits Cameron Indoor Stadium at 7:30 p.m.
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