The Blue Devils returned to their winning ways Friday night as they brought some of their best play all season to Virginia.
After the team suffered its first ACC loss of the year against Virginia Tech Oct. 14, Duke (16-3, 8-1 in the ACC) returned to the court in a big way at Memorial Gymnasium, sweeping the Cavaliers (9-9, 3-5) in less than an hour and fifteen minutes.
Head coach Jolene Nagel believed that the loss Thursday night fired up the Blue Devils for Friday’s match.
“We didn’t play very well on Thursday, and the team was very disappointed—and that’s putting it mildly—about the loss,” Nagel said. “Friday night, the girls had a different focus and made sure they each did their own jobs out there. We wanted to make sure we left no stones unturned. We were very aggressive, specifically in game one, and that aggressiveness put them back on their heels.”
In the first game, Duke came out communicating well and executed its shots precisely to win the set 25-12.
The Blue Devils continued to put the pressure on Virginia until the conclusion of the match. The team went on to win the next two games by the same score of 25-16.
Overall, everything on the court seemed to be clicking for Duke. Both sophomore Christiana Gray and junior Amanda Robertson turned in errorless hitting performances Friday, recording eight and seven kills respectively. Gray also had a season-high hitting percentage of .727.
“When a player is able to do something like that, it is because all the parts have to be there,” Nagel said. “We need to be passing and serve receiving well, the set has to be there and as a result of those two things, Christiana was able to take advantage of the opportunities she was given.”
Solid defense allowed Duke to take control of the game and come out with a victory. The team had a total of 51 digs and was led by freshman libero Ali McCurdy, who tallied 12 digs of her own. Duke also established a big presence at the net as the team recorded 9.5 blocks throughout the match.
“I think we blocked with a purpose,” Nagel said. “We were able to stay disciplined at the net which allowed our girls to play great defense [behind the block]. Those were two parts of our game that we were missing on Thursday night.”
In the meantime, the Blue Devils will enjoy this ACC victory before getting right back into ACC action at Miami Friday and at Florida State Sunday.
“These upcoming games are going to be tough since other schools tend not to give Duke a warm welcome,” Nagel said. “We need to compete hard in order to achieve what we know we are capable of for next weekend’s matches.”
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