It was the Blue Devils’ first match of the year at Cameron Indoor Stadium Tuesday night, and everyone on the team got a chance to enjoy the victory.
Duke decisively beat Campbell, 3-0 (25-9, 25-14, 25-23), with consistent offensive and defensive play, as well as solid contributions from previously seldom-used bench players. The Blue Devils (2-1) were led by senior middle hitter Becci Burling, who notched four aces against the Fighting Camels (0-4) along with 15 kills.
“I think it was a great match, and Campbell has a lot of great players on its team, and they’re obviously very scrappy. So they brought a lot of rallies to us, which was a lot of fun, especially for a home game,” Burling said. “I think we did well considering it was our first match playing at home, and it really got out all of our preseason jitters, and I think what we can take from tonight is to better prepare for each and every set, no matter who we’re playing, no matter our lineup.”
Finishing the first set with consistent attacking and blocking, as well as a veteran line-up that included five returning starters and freshman libero Ali McCurdy, the team changed things up in the second set with more rotations that gave reserve players time on the court.
With the reserves, Duke bumbled its way to a closer game. After making 10 errors in the third set, Campbell gained momentum and forced long points between the two teams, tying the score nine times, even at 20-20, and pulling ahead a few times, as well. The Blue Devils were able to come through, however, 24-21, before finally winning the concluding set 25-23.
“I had some of the players go out there and move positions, so maybe changing things up didn’t give them a chance to get into the rhythm of things, but they did really well with what we were trying to accomplish,” head coach Jolene Nagel said. “I feel like our team had an opportunity to grow tonight because we’re trying to get experience for a lot of players, so I thought it was awesome for our team to be in a match and have us all out there working together.”
McCurdy made a strong showing Tuesday, adding 12 digs to the 29 she made over the weekend in the Coors Rocky Mountain Challenge. She also held a .923 serving percentage in the game against Campbell.
“I was excited going into it because I didn’t know how it would feel heading into a game at home, but it felt great,” said McCurdy, who played in Cameron for the first time Tuesday. “I know that if we play hard, if we play our game, I’m confident that we’ll do well. I think everybody stepped up when we needed them to step up.”
Duke heads to Murfreesboro, Tenn. Friday for the Middle Tennessee State Tournament, where the team will face Middle Tennessee State, which was chosen to top the 2010 Sun Belt Conference in a preseason coaches’ poll; Auburn—picked to finish second in SEC West by the league’s head coaches; and Georgia Southern, which returns two preseason All-Southern Conference players.
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