Armed with the most accomplished lineup in Blue Devil history, No. 22 Duke walked into Cameron Indoor Stadium Saturday hoping to reach the sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament for the first time in the school's history.
When the final whistle sounded, however, seventh-ranked California (24-7) walked away with smiles, while the Blue Devils left in tears.
For the third straight year, Duke (25-7) failed to get past the second round, losing to the Golden Bears 3-1 (31-29, 28-30, 23-30, 17-30).
With the home crowd cheering for a Blue Devil comeback early in Game Four, setter Ali Hausfeld spread the court, as the Blue Devils unleashed a wide array of offensive attacks to bring the team within a point of Cal at 8-7. Just when the Duke offense seemed to finally start clicking, however, the overwhelming presence of the Golden Bears' blocking took over, as Cal went on an 8-2 run. Despite numerous attempts to regroup, the Blue Devils were never able to recover, as the team did not get closer than five for the remainder of the match.
"They got the momentum, and we just couldn't stop them," sophomore hitter Rachael Moss said. "There's nothing that we did wrong, we played well. But momentum-wise, we needed to stop them at crucial points, but we didn't and they kept building off of that."
After Moss led the Blue Devils to a victory in Game One with 10 kills, Duke seemed poised to overtake the top-ten squad. The Golden Bears, however, came back with a vengeance in Game Two, shutting down the Blue Devil hitters and outblocking Duke 8-2. Cal went on to record a 14-block advantage, and the third-best offense in the country just couldn't contend with the third-best blocking team in the nation.
"We lost that close second game, and that was devastating and hard to bounce back from," Hausfeld said. "We kept fighting and hung in there, but we just couldn't hang on."
Despite the battle at the net, Moss and senior Carrie DeMange batted in 19 and 16 kills, respectively. The totals were no match for the Golden Bears' hitters, though, as Angie Pressey and Hana Cutura outpaced the Blue Devils by combining for 44 kills.
Hausfeld ended her career at Duke with 44 assists, bringing her total to 6,183, good for second in ACC history. The senior also recorded 10 kills, six coming in the final game.
Senior Jenny Shull led the defense with 14 digs, bringing her season total to 644. During the first round of the tournament, the libero broke former Blue Devil Stephanie Istavan's previous single-season record of 629.
"I'm proud of this team and what they've done this season," head coach Jolene Nagel said. "They've made tremendous progress, and they've set a new standard for this program, for Duke volleyball."
In the first round, the Blue Devils had a bit of scare against American, with the match going the full five games. After dominating the Eagles in the first two games, 30-20 and 30-25, Duke saw its lead slip away as American refused to be swept. Faced with the threat of losing in the first round, the Blue Devils handily defeated the Eagles in the 15-point Game Five, winning 15-7 thanks to the power of DeMange, who slammed down four kills and five blocks.
With the loss to Cal, one of Duke's most successful seasons comes to an end. And perhaps more disappointing, so do the careers of the most accomplished class in Blue Devil history.
"We're all extremely competitive, and obviously I was really sad that we lost," Moss said. "But my tears and I'm sure most of [the team's] tears were because the seniors were leaving, and they're a huge part of the program. They're going to be missed."
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