After defeating American in the first round of the NCAA Tournament Friday night for its first postseason victory since 2001, Duke saw its season came to an end Saturday. The Blue Devils (24-8) fell to No. 1 Nebraska, 3-0, snapping their nine-match win streak.
Duke was held to a season-low .043 hitting percentage in the loss after tallying a season-high .494 in their win over the Eagles (25-10). With their victory over the Blue Devils, the Cornhuskers (30-1) advanced to next weekend's Regional Finals in Omaha, Neb.
The preseason favorite in the ACC, Duke struggled out of the gate in the conference. The Blue Devils started the season 5-4 in the ACC but rallied through the second half of their schedule to finish in third place with a conference record of 17-5, earning a bid to the NCAA Tournament. Nevertheless, they had not faced a team as talented as Nebraska, Nagel said.
"They passed really well, which made it difficult to set up our block," head coach Jolene Nagel said. "They had three options to set to every time, and we couldn't get two blockers up to defend as much as we would have liked."
The two teams split the first eight points of the first game, but Nebraska gained control by going on a 16-6 run. Duke had trouble defending Nebraska's serve, which enabled the Cornhusker offense to dictate the tempo and force the Blue Devils to play from behind early.
"We had a little bit of trouble receiving [the serve] and getting our offense going," Nagel said. "Normally we have a pretty balanced offensive attack, and we weren't able to do that tonight because Nebraska was serving very well and very tough."
The Cornhuskers, the No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, successfully took Duke middle blockers Carrie DeMange and Jourdan Norman out of the match, holding them both to negative hitting percentages. DeMange, a first team all-ACC selection, and Norman, a first team all-ACC freshman selection, combined to record only seven kills against Nebraska after posting 16 the night before against American.
Junior Tealle Hunkus was the only Blue Devil to record double-digit kills, as she posted 10 to go along with 11 digs-her 16th double-double of the season.
Despite dropping the match's first two games and falling behind 17-6 in the third game, Duke did not go quietly. The Blue Devils battled back to within five points, forcing a Nebraska timeout with the score at 24-19.
"We started to block more in game three, which was really exciting," Nagel said. "I was pleased with our effort although the match did not turn out as we would have liked."
Nebraska's crowd provided a championship-like atmosphere that Duke had not seen before. The Blue Devils did not see this as a disadvantage, however, and actually enjoyed playing in front of such a large audience.
"Even though there were 4,000 fans in red cheering for the other team, they were really friendly," Nagel said. "They were a knowledgeable crowd-cheering after every rally. Just to play in front of a crowd like that is a reward in itself."
Many of the problems that plagued Duke against Nebraska were absent Friday night against American. The Blue Devils were able to return the Eagles' serve consistently and jumped out to quick starts in each game. Senior Sarah Salem led the team with 14 kills, while DeMange and Hunkus recorded 12 and 11 kills, respectively. Sophomore Ali Hausfeld, the Blue Devils' other all-ACC first-team selection, added a match-high 46 assists in the 3-0 victory.
Although Nagel said that she was disappointed with her team's loss to the Cornhuskers, she added that the Blue Devils' appearance in the NCAA Tournament was a big step for the program.
"I'm so glad that our team got the opportunity to compete here," Nagel said. "This was a blessing for us. It will motivate us in the spring as we challenge ourselves to be better."
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