This weekend will be difficult for first-place Duke as it heads down to Florida to face Miami tonight and No. 24 Florida State Sunday. The road trip matches the ACC’s top preseason favorites—the Blue Devils and Seminoles—for the first and only time this season.
Duke (16-3, 8-1 in the ACC) still has a one-game edge over North Carolina for the conference’s top spot, but will face a tough Seminole team that won last year’s ACC title and is one of the leading offensive teams in the conference.
This season has shown that winning back-to-back games in the Sunshine state is no easy task. Only two teams—North Carolina and Georgia Tech—have pulled off the feat against Miami and Florida State.
To add to the difficulty of playing on the road, the Blue Devils will be facing two offensive juggernauts. Miami leads the ACC in kills and assists per set and Florida State ranks fourth in hitting with a .254 percentage.
The Duke defense will be crucial in this weekend’s contests. It has performed well so far this season, holding opponents to a conference-low .150 hitting percentage and closing out numerous offensive leaders, including Georgia Tech Sept. 24.
Duke also has the best offensive middle-blocking trio in the ACC—a veteran team of senior Becci Burling, junior Amanda Robertson and sophomore Christina Gray whose members are all hitting .310 or better.
Although the Blue Devils have much at stake this weekend, including the leading spot in the conference, they are in a good spot heading into the second half of the season. If their past performance on the road is any indication of this weekend’s matches, Duke could come out defensively strong and be able to return to Durham with two additional victories in hand.
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