Behind stellar performances from junior Amanda Robertson and sophomore Christiana Gray, the Blue Devils rebounded from last weekend’s loss to Florida State by scoring a pair of victories over Clemson and Georgia Tech Friday and Saturday.
Robertson posted 22 kills and Gray racked up eight blocks—both career highs—in Duke’s 3-1 win against the Tigers Friday in Cameron Indoor Stadium. The next night, the Blue Devils extended their home win streak to seven this season by sweeping the Yellow Jackets 3-0.
“I feel like the team really was pretty in tune to the importance of this match tonight and the significance of it,” head coach Jolene Nagel said after the Georgia Tech game. “We were pretty focused going into it... understanding that we can control our own destiny as a team.... Our serve-receive was pretty solid and that really allowed us to do some things offensively.”
The Yellow Jackets (15-10, 8-5 in the ACC) led early in both the second and third sets, but the Blue Devils (19-4, 11-2) managed to put them away in the closing stages of each frame. Duke scored the final three points of the second set to pull out the 26-24 win, and Robertson notched the last two kills of the final set, helping the team to a match-clinching 25-23 victory.
The Blue Devil defense continued its strong play a night after holding Clemson to a .169 hitting percentage. Four players posted 10 or more digs versus Georgia Tech, a feat the team accomplished against Clemson as well.
“To see these numbers, with four different people, that’s really exciting because we’ve been really trying to work on our defense,” Nagel said. “And that includes setting good blocks—the block number isn’t kind here, but I do think that we’re setting some good blocks—and getting some good touches and those really allow people to get those digs.”
The Tigers (14-10, 5-8) boasted a formidable defense of their own Friday, as they entered the match ranked sixth in the nation in blocks per set. Clemson’s 6-foot-3 middle blocker Alexa Rand has averaged over one-and-a-half blocks per frame this season, but Gray outperformed her on the other side of the net. The 6-foot-5 sophomore was instrumental in limiting the Tigers to a .132 hitting percentage in the last set, as she had four solo blocks in that span.
“You can’t win a game without defense,” Robertson said. “Defense is definitely key for us. That’s what we’ve been concentrating on.”
While Gray and freshman Ali McCurdy—who had a team-high 26 digs—led the charge on the defensive end, Robertson dominated on offense. The middle blocker converted 22 of her 38 attack opportunities and only recorded five attack errors, good for a .447 hitting percentage.
The only blip on the radar for the Blue Devils came in the second set, when Clemson ended the frame on a 15-5 run to win 25-21. But Duke quickly bounced back from the defeat and shut down the Tigers the rest of the way.
The Blue Devils now sit in a tie with North Carolina atop the ACC standings and will face off against the Tar Heels next Saturday.
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