Despite the prospect of having to face No. 1 Nebraska in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, members of the volleyball team were never intimidated.
The Blue Devils gathered Nov. 27 to watch the announcement of the NCAA Tournament bracket. When the brackets were announced, revealing their first round matchup with American University and their potential second game against the Cornhuskers, head coach Jolene Nagel did not hear a single negative comment.
"I was really pleased that I heard nobody say 'oh, I don't want to play Nebraska,'" Nagel said. "Everyone was thrilled to be in the tournament and so excited to play."
Still fresh on the minds of many of the Blue Devils was the miserable feeling of being left out of the NCAA Tournament a year ago. Using that experience as motivation, Duke never lost sight of their goal to earn an NCAA bid.
"We weren't looking past American, but we were really excited to see how we stacked up against the best in the nation," sophomore Ali Hausfeld said.
Although Duke easily beat American 3-0 Dec. 2 in the first round, its second-round game against Nebraska brought the Blue Devils season to an end. The Cornhuskers topped the Blue Devils 3-0 Dec. 3.
Duke (23-7, 17-5 in the ACC) finished its schedule on a tear, winning its last eight ACC contests, and entered the Nebraska match having won 13 of 14 matches overall. The Blue Devils were also unbeaten at home for the first time since 1993.
The team's appearance in the NCAA Tournament was its first since 2002.
"I'm so glad that our team got the opportunity to compete here," Nagel said after the Nebraska match. "It's huge for the program."
The loss to the Cornhuskers also marked the end of the careers for four Blue Devil seniors-Samantha Fisher, Ann Geddie, Tiffany Perry and Sarah Salem. Nagel called her team's weekend at the tournament "bittersweet" and spoke highly of all her seniors.
"Our seniors have done a tremendous job," Nagel said. "They've worked very hard, been team players and all of them were truly committed to being integral members of the team."
With a solid core of players returning, including First Team All-ACC performers Hausfeld and Carrie DeMange, Nagel hopes the team can build off their experience against Nebraska.
"We have yet to fully discover how huge it was for our program to have played in such an environment," Nagel said. "With break coming up, we'll be able to put a lot of this in perspective.... We're definitely going to grow from this in a variety of ways."
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