In a hostile O'Keefe Gym in Atlanta, the Yellow Jackets had the No. 14 Blue Devils in a position they hadn't been in since Sept. 7-on the verge of being swept.
Riding a six-match win streak, Duke (20-5, 15-2 in the ACC) dropped its first two games, and three out of four, to suffer a bitter defeat at the hands of Georgia Tech.
"We never got much momentum going throughout the match," head coach Jolene Nagel said. "It was also a loud facility to play in. It was distracting to our team, and we had a hard time getting things going."
Despite a herculean effort from senior Carrie DeMange, who notched 20 kills, and sophomore Rachael Moss, who reached a double-double with 16 kills and 12 digs, Georgia Tech (18-9, 12-5) came out of the gate aggressively, maintaining momentum and never allowing the Blue Devils to hit their stride.
The Yellow Jackets held Duke to a .167 and a .122 hitting percentage in Games 1 and 2, respectively.
"We were playing from behind," Nagel said. "They served very well and were very aggressive."
Nagel also said the match was a tough road loss for her team, but the Blue Devils' road is about to get even more challenging.
Duke must regroup quickly as it travels tonight to Clemson to take on the Tigers, previously the only conference foe to defeat the Blue Devils this season. Clemson (23-3, 16-1) took down then-No. 13 Duke in 3-2 nail-biter Oct. 13, ending the team's 38-game string of victories at home and its 18-game stretch of conference wins.
In that first contest, the Blue Devils could not overcome an early 2-0 deficit. Particularly considering Thursday's performance in Atlanta, Duke needs to get off to a faster start this time around. Adding the fact that the Clemson defense also holds its opponents to an ACC-best .162 hitting percentage, the Blue Devils have their work cut out for them.
The Tigers cruised to a 3-0 win Thursday against Wake Forest and hope to keep the momentum on their side going into their match with Duke. The Blue Devils have a tie for first in the ACC to play for today-all the more important as the season begins to wind down.
"The NCAA tournament is coming up, but we still have five more ACC games to go." head coach Jolene Nagel said. "We are capable of playing much better than we did tonight."
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