Standing in front of 6-foot-3 Krista Dill is a humbling experience. One of the volleyball team's top players is arguably one of the toughest middle blockers in the ACC this year.
There does not seem to be an opponent that intimidates her or that is too strong for her to, as she puts it, take care of business.
"Challenges are going to come to us every game," she said. "We just need to take care of business on our side of the court."
That is exactly what Dill does and what she, as a senior leader, pushes her team to do. But even back when it all began, as a member of head coach Jolene Nagel's first recruiting class, Dill showed that she was going to be a lasting threat to the conference. In her freshman year, Dill was named ACC Rookie of the week four times and was selected for the All-ACC Rookie Team. She posted 14 kills and seven blocks under the pressure of the 2000 NCAA Tournament against Arizona State and led Duke for the season in attack percentage (.339), total blocks (146) and blocks per game (1.2).
"She's been a starter since the day she arrived," coach Nagel boasted. "She's such a big force in the middle for us, especially blocking, that we can base our defense around her."
Over the rest of her career playing for the Blue Devils, Dill has continued to be a central part of the volleyball program. She ranked fourth in the ACC in 2001 with 1.27 blocks per game and led Duke in hitting in 2002 with a 29.4 percent average--seventh in the conference.
With such an impressive career, Dill can only build on her momentum--and she already has. In the Blue Devils' first three matchups this season against Pittsburgh, Dill registered 15 kills and nine blocks, bringing her into fourth place on the all-time blocking list with 401 career blocks.
In addition, Dill has the ability as a leader to bring her team up to a certain level of play.
"I have the experience like all the upperclassmen but the underclassmen are a big part of the success of the team," Dill said. "We have firepower in all lanes on the court."
As Nagel tries out new personalities on the floor, Dill has had the opportunity to share the front lines with both experienced players like fellow senior Tassy Rufai, who in the same Pittsburgh contest matched Dill's 15 kills, as well as young new talents such as Nana Meriwether who had 14 kills and seven blocks against Marquette. Where the Blue Devils are most successful is in their ability to bring these strengths together in a united power unit.
"The team is a cohesive group," Nagel said. "But [Krista] is a core individual that helped that come about."
On the court and off, Dill continues to be an intregal part of Duke's volleyball program. And with the Blue Devils' high aspirations this year for ACC and NCAA Tournament championship challenges, they will need her to remain a core individual.
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