The weekend opened on a high note for Duke, as it defeated Miami (10-6, 2-4 in the ACC) in straight sets Friday. Saturday, however, the Blue Devils encountered everything they could handle in a tough loss to Florida State.
Saturday’s defeat at Cameron Indoor Stadium put the first blemish on Duke’s ACC record and ended its streak of 13 consecutive home victories dating back to last season. No one can blame the defeat on lack of effort, though. The Blue Devils (16-3, 6-1) pushed the Seminoles to their limit, scrambling to force a fifth set despite committing 14 more errors than their opponents.
“I was really proud of our team’s effort tonight,” head coach Jolene Nagel said. “Volleyball is a game where errors are going to occur along the way and you try to minimize them as much as possible. I think we were tough mentally and kept pushing to keep having a chance.”
No. 19 Florida State (15-2, 6-1) used its imposing front line to push the Blue Devils out of their comfort zone, forcing them to go for a bit too much offensively. The Seminoles outblocked Duke 15-9, and won the majority of battles close to the net.
“Their blocking was really good, and we didn’t block badly but they blocked really well,” Nagel said.
Offensively, the Blue Devil attack was led by senior Rachael Moss and sophomore Sophia Dunworth, who registered 15 kills apiece. Sophomore Kelly Catanach was typically effective in finding her teammates, notching 51 assists.
While Duke’s total attack numbers are impressive, they do not tell the whole story. The Blue Devils managed only a .176 hitting percentage, compared to the Seminoles’ .301.
One of the main reasons for such a disparity was Florida State’s willingness to vary its offensive strategy and use all of its players on the floor.
“They did a great job of moving the ball around. They moved it to the middle, right side, outside—every position was able to put the ball down,” Dunworth said. “You could see every problem we had on defense out there because they were moving the ball around.”
After dropping the first set 25-18, Duke rallied to take the second 27-25, showing impressive resilience in overcoming a questionable line call on game point that didn’t go its way.
In the third frame, Duke rallied to tie the score at 19, only to have Florida State finish it off with a 6-1 run. The Blue Devils fought their way back again, however, and clawed out a 25-23 win to force a fifth set.
“I think tonight we knew that Florida State was going to be an awesome team so we just brought everything we had…. We were just really fired up,” Dunworth said. “I think if we bring that every game it would be awesome”
The emotional roller coaster ended on a low for the Blue Devils, as the Seminoles polished off the last set 15-10. Duke is still right in the thick of the ACC race, though.
“I think there are a few things that we’ll be able to take going forward,” Nagel said. “One of them is the feeling that some of the kids have right now because they’re disappointed, and I think that’s going to be a motivating factor gong into the week of practice and future matches.”
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.