With a pair of road victories over Miami and Florida State during the Thanksgiving Break, Duke (23-7, 17-5 in the ACC) finished the season with its best record since 2001 and was rewarded with a berth in the NCAA Championships.
"Both those wins were huge for us in helping us get an opportunity to compete in postseason play," head coach Jolene Nagel said. "We knew we had to get things done in Florida."
The Blue Devils notched a come-from-behind 3-2 win Wednesday over the Seminoles (13-17, 11-11) and cruised past the Hurricanes (16-14, 11-11), 3-1, Friday to cap an eight-game win streak and secure a third-place finish in the ACC.
The team will travel to Lincoln, Neb., to face off with Patriot League champion American University in the first round of the NCAA Championships Dec. 2. With a victory, the Blue Devils would advance to face the winner of No. 1 Nebraska and Alabama A&M.
Last season, Duke finished 20-10 and reached the semifinals of the ACC Championships but was left out of the NCAAs for the second consecutive season.
"We were really disappointed we missed the NCAA Championships last season," Nagel said. "It's been a motivating factor for the team all season."
After their first trip through the ACC, the Blue Devils were 7-4 and in jeopardy of missing the NCAAs for the third straight year. Duke rebounded, however, and was an ACC-best 10-1 in the second half and finished just one game behind North Carolina and Maryland, which join Duke as the only schools from the ACC to reach postseason play.
"I'm very proud of how we played this season, especially in the second half," Nagel said. "We're all very excited to be back in the NCAAs."
With the addition of Boston College to the ACC this year, the conference was too large to hold a season-ending tournament. Instead, the league used a double round-robin to determine the winner. The Tar Heels edged out the Terrapins by way of a tie-break to take the ACC title.
The Blue Devils took off on their Thanksgiving road trip after compiling a perfect record at home, but they were just 4-6 on the road and were looking to bolster that mark to increase their chances at a postseason bid.
Trailing Florida State 2-1, Duke stayed alive in the fourth game, then put the Seminoles away convincingly, 15-8, in the fifth and deciding game of the contest.
"It was not our prettiest match," Nagel said. "However, we served and blocked well and were able to pull through."
In the win, Jourdan Norman set the Duke record for blocks in a single season, and the freshman added three more in the team's victory over Miami to bring her total to 170.
Duke easily won its first two games against the Hurricanes but dropped the fourth, 30-22, before taking the match in the fourth game to notch its school-record 17th ACC victory.
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