Duke opened its ACC season just the way it wanted to, finishing the weekend with two wins in two matches.
The Blue Devils swept Clemson Friday night in Cameron Indoor Stadium and returned the following evening to topple Georgia Tech, 3-1.
Duke-which was picked to finish first in the ACC-succeeded in its first opportunity to justify its top spot with the wins over Clemson (6-4, 1-1 in the ACC) and Georgia Tech (8-4, 0-2).
"As a team, I know we're really excited to be 2-0 and to be able to take care of business at home," head coach Jolene Nagel said. "I feel like the team really kept their composure throughout the weekend.... Our team didn't panic or anything. We just kind of hung tough and kept working."
After taking the first game from the Tigers Friday, the Blue Devils (9-2, 2-0) found themselves behind 22-20 in the second. Duke, however, powered back with a 10-0 run to clinch the game for a 2-0 lead in the match. The Blue Devils carried over the momentum to jump out to a 15-5 lead in the third game, securing the match with a 30-25 win.
Setter Ali Hausfeld had 38 assists against Clemson to move up to third place on Duke's all-time assist list with 3,395 career assists. The junior finished the weekend with a total of 92 assists.
Duke started out strong again Saturday, downing Georgia Tech, 30-21, in the first match. But the Yellow Jackets forced game two into a back-and-forth battle, eventually winning the game, 31-29.
"We were just upset that we had let them win that game because, in the first game, we felt pretty in control of it," Hausfeld said. "We could have done a lot better in the second game. We were just like, 'We've got to play with confidence, be really aggressive, go out there and get the next two.' And we did."
The Blue Devils reemerged from intermission to control the tempo and scoring of games three and four, handily finishing off the Yellow Jackets, 30-18, in both games.
"Especially when we were down at times, we hung tough and we pulled through and got those two wins," sophomore Sue Carls said. "That's huge."
Four Blue Devils reached double-digit kills in the win. Carrie DeMange had 23 in her sixth double-double of the season, while Carls posted 12 and Rachel Moss and Tealle Hunkus followed with 10 apiece. On the defense end, libero Jenny Shull had a total of 54 digs over the weekend.
Nagel said that the depth of the team and her ability to interchange players in the lineup are assets that will help the team as its season continues.
"It's all of us out there on the court," Nagel said. "That's what holds us together, and the more we're together, the less someone can pull us apart in any kind of way."
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