Faced with the unfamiliar situation of coming off a home loss, Duke responded in familiar fashion-by winning.
The No. 17 Blue Devils (16-4, 11-1 in the ACC) defeated Virginia (13-8, 8-4) in a five-game thriller Saturday night in Cameron Indoor Stadium. Both teams had several opportunities to seal the victory, but it was Duke that prevailed 17-15 in the fifth and decisive game.
"It really could have gone either way," head coach Jolene Nagel said. "What I liked about our team was that we remained patient. Because we didn't get all rattled in those long rallies and kept that patience, that really helped us to stay in some of those points."
The fifth game was tight the whole way, with nine ties and six lead changes. Senior Carrie DeMange came up with several timely kills and a big block that gave Duke a one point advantage at 13-12. The Blue Devils then caught a break when Virginia's all-ACC outside hitter Sarah Kirkwood pounded her serve into the net, giving Duke a 14-13 lead and the serve. The match ended when the Cavaliers made another costly error, sending a free ball out of bounds.
The Blue Devils cleared the bench and ran onto the floor, jumping and screaming in celebration of a hard-fought victory. And with the win, Duke also expunged memories of last weekend's five-game home loss to Clemson, the Blue Devils' first loss in Cameron since 2004.
DeMange credits the team's age and maturity for getting back on track this weekend.
"We came out ready to go," DeMange said. "We just wanted it more."
In Saturday's match, DeMange backed up her words, leading Duke with 29 kills and 28 digs. It was the 13th consecutive match she has registered a double-double. Senior setter Ali Hausfeld sparked the offense with 68 assists, and sophomore Rachael Moss and junior Jourdan Norman added 22 and 13 kills, respectively.
Duke started the match on the wrong side of a 30-18 score, but the Blue Devils made effective adjustments against the high-powered Virginia offense and rebounded to take both games two and three 30-19.
"We pulled back a little and settled back a little on them," DeMange said. "[In the] second game, I think we just started going after them and just attacking and making them play the ball."
The beginning of the fourth game mirrored that of the fifth until Virginia broke it open with a 9-0 run to steal a 21-11 lead. Thanks to DeMange's serves, Duke responded with a 6-0 run of its own to cut the deficit to 27-26 but ended up losing the game's last three points.
The match Friday against Virginia Tech was not nearly as close-Duke won the first three games 30-22, 31-29 and 30-26. DeMange was once again Duke's leader in kills with 16, and Moss added 12 and Norman 10. Hausfeld chipped in 44 assists and senior libero Jenny Shull led the defense with 20 digs.
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