Duke thumps FSU, falls to Terps

Duke's volleyball team lost to Maryland Sunday afternoon 3-1 at Cameron Indoor Stadium but showed improvement in many aspects of its play.

For the greater portion of the first game, the Blue Devils (8-15, 4-7 in the ACC) and Terrapins (20-4, 9-1) traded points back and forth. When Maryland began to pull ahead, Duke rallied to win four straight points and tie the game at 25. That was as close as the Blue Devils would get, however, as they lost the first game by two.

"When you're playing a good team like this, you've got to make sure you are doing all the little things," Duke head coach Jolene Nagel said. "I feel like we had our opportunities but we just didn't take advantage of all those opportunities."

The second game began similarly. Duke trailed early, but picked up its play, especially on the defensive end. The Blue Devils set a season high for team blocks with 17, eight of them coming in that second game.

Duke struggled from the start of the third game. After falling behind early, the Blue Devils tried to capture some of the momentum and make a run, but lost 30-23.

"They adjusted to us," Dill said. "They're a great team all around. We were just not playing as intense as we could have."

Maryland's offense, led by Sarah Treadwell's game-high 18 kills, controlled the final game. After tying the game at 10, Duke struggled the rest of the way losing 30-18.

In the other match of the weekend, Duke defeated Florida State (11-11, 2-7) by a 3-1 ledger. Sophomore Sarah Salem finished with a game-high 15 kills to go along with 19 digs.

"We needed to come out strong against Florida State," Nagel said. "We just seemed to gain momentum as the match went on."

With five games remaining in the regular season, the Blue Devils are continuing to improve their consistency and intensity.

"We just need to go out and be aggressive," Rufai said. "We know we have the ability to beat anybody if we have confidence in ourselves."