Catanach leads Duke on southern swing

Duke heads south this weekend looking to expand on its six-game win streak.

The last time the Blue Devils took a road trip down the Atlantic Coast, they were swept by Miami and Florida State—the team’s last two losses, which came over three weeks ago. Duke will play Clemson Friday night at 7 p.m. and Georgia Tech Sunday at 1 p.m.

“Both of these teams are very good and very close [to us] in terms of standings,” head coach Jolene Nagel said. “It is not going to be an easy weekend.”

The weekend marks the beginning of the second half of the Blue Devils’ ACC slate. After the early losses to the Seminoles and Hurricanes, Duke has climbed back up the conference standings and is currently tied for third. Florida State is undefeated in conference play, so the Blue Devils have little margin for error the rest of the way if they are to repeat as ACC champions.

Senior setter Kellie Catanach is 75 career assists shy of 5,000, a mark that only two previous Blue Devils have reached. Duke (14-6, 8-3 in the ACC) swept the weekly conference awards after wins over N.C. State and North Carolina. Sophomore libero Ali McCurdy was named ACC player of the week and outside hitter Jeme Obeime was named ACC freshman of the week for the second time.

Clemson (14-8, 6-4) enters the matchup against Duke having come off a tough five-set loss to Virginia Tech last weekend. Junior middle hitter Sandra Adeleye leads the powerful Tiger offense with 255 kills on the season, followed by Moneshia Simmons with 188.

The Blue Devils will then take on Georgia Tech (12-10, 5-6) two days later, the Yellow Jackets’ third game in five days. Georgia Tech’s junior right-side hitter, Monique Mead, leads her team by a long shot with 391 kills, 240 more than her nearest teammate. She also ranks second on the team with 204 digs.

“The team has been very mature about understanding the significance of the next two matches,” Nagel said. “These matches are very important.”