It was certainly an enjoyable fall break for the members of the volleyball team, who defeated Florida State Friday night.
Playing on the road, the Blue Devils (14-2, 6-2 in the ACC) left FSU (7-9, 4-4) in three games, with scores of 30-25, 30-23 and 30-24. Though they knew it would be a tough match, the team was slightly favored, as they were expected to finish the season third in the ACC, while FSU was predicted to place fourth.
"Florida State is a very tough team, and it was definitely not a win we could have taken for granted," coach Jolene Nagel said.
The match began very close, with both teams neck and neck in the first game until Duke finally broke out in the end. The Blue Devils were unable to get ahead until the score was in the lower 20s, when the Blue Devils eventually got the ball and scored some points.
They quickly controlled game two, on the other hand, because they capitalized on Florida State's many errors. The team's main strategy was to try and contain Florida State's middle hitter Norisha Campbell and their strong setting led by Jennifer Anderson. The Blue Devils were successful in limiting Campbell, which was a key to the victory, for she can easily dominate the court.
The tides began to turn at the start of game three, when the Blue Devils found themselves down 5-1, due to their errors.
"Once we eliminated our mistakes and began to just play our game, we were back into it. There was never the panic of being behind," outside hitter Ashley Harris said.
The senior led the team in kills, with 13, along with two block assists, five digs and a .458 hitting percentage.
To seal the victory, the team pulled together defensively with stellar blocking. Middle blocker Katie Gilman had a tremendous game, with seven block assists, to lead Duke's defensive stronghold. Coach Jolene Nagel felt that her team's successful defense, especially against Campbell, was a major element of the victory.
"We were really excited because FSU is a very good team, but we were able to take control of the game because of our strong blocking that night," Nagel said.
The strong play of the offense also contributed to this victory. The team had a .252 hitting percentage, which was higher than its .250 goal. Setter Arielle Linderman sparked the offense with 39 assists, seven digs and two block assists.
The sophomore also led the team in aces, with two. Outside hitter Jill Sonne had a strong game with 11 kills, four block assists and eight digs, while middle blocker Krista Dill helped the team by having eight kills, one solo block and two assists.
The team felt that Florida State did not play as well as it was capable of and that it capitalized well on the Seminoles' mistakes.
"We were lucky that FSU, who is a tough team, did not really get it together that night for whatever reason," remarked Nagel. Florida State's main problem area was in serving accordingly, which limited them in terms of what they could do with the ball, and with putting balls away. The Blue Devils capitalized on this and stepped up in their ability to block to the hitters' direction.
The game left the Blue Devils tied for second in the ACC with Georgia Tech, behind UNC, as they prepare to face Clemson Friday. The team is working on having more consistent serving and hopes that the strength of its blocking will once again be a decisive factor in its next few matches.
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