With back-to-back, five-game nailbiters at Georgia Tech and Clemson to begin the second half of their ACC schedule, the No. 25 Blue Devils returned to Durham with mixed results.
In a hostile environment with more than 1,700 loud Yellow Jacket fans in attendance Friday night, Duke stumbled as Georgia Tech (13-10, 5-8 in the ACC) forced a decisive fifth game, ultimately clinching the match with a dramatic 24-22 victory.
The loss marks the Blue Devils' (19-3, 12-1) first conference defeat this season and ends a 19 game ACC-win streak dating back to Nov. 4, 2005.
Regrouping from Friday's tough loss for Saturday's match at Clemson (14-7, 9-4), Duke found itself in a very similar fifth-game situation.
Duke, however, refused to allow similar results as the Blue Devils battled both the Tigers and over 1,000 rowdy Clemson fans to seal the match with a resounding 15-9, fifth-game victory.
"It's a typical road weekend in the ACC in the fact that they're not easy trips to make, and they're very competitive matches in front of very good crowds," head coach Jolene Nagel said. "Our team is playing very well.. We had our opportunities and we didn't capitalize on them, and that's what makes a difference."
Going into the fourth game leading the match 2-1 Friday, Duke jumped to an early 14-3 lead. But service errors and missed opportunities plagued the Blue Devils as Georgia Tech steadily climbed back into the game and notched the 30-28 victory.
After trading point-for-point the entire fifth game, the Yellow Jackets managed to knot the score at 22 and then string together two straight points to best the Blue Devils in the intense, back-and-forth battle.
"Everyone was upset, but at the same time, I think we understood that we had our opportunity," Nagel said. "But we had to get over that very quickly in the fact we had to play another very big match at Clemson the next night.... I was really pleased how the team handled that and bounced back."
Saturday night, the Blue Devils came out strong with a 2-0 match lead before dropping two straight games to the Tigers to force a fifth game. Duke, however, regained its momentum in the final game to power past Clemson with the fifth game victory.
Junior Carrie DeMange was all business Saturday night, ending with a career-high 32 kills and a .400 hitting percentage. Junior Ali Hausfeld recorded 135 assists over the weekend. Freshman Rachael Moss earned 39 kills-including a career-high 22 kills against Georgia Tech-and Tealle Hunkus finished with 35 kills.
Libero Jenny Shull anchored the defense with 53 digs over the weekend, while DeMange left her defensive mark with 13 blocks-including a season-high nine against the Yellow Jackets.
Although the Georgia Tech loss ruins the Blue Devils' shot at an undefeated ACC season, Nagel said the team does not concentrate on winning streaks or the pressures that go along with them.
"We really just try to take the focus off of that by just planning for the next opponent," Nagel said. "The road is not a friendly place in the ACC, so we have to continue to work very hard to stick together as a team and continue to improve."
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