Duke won the last four matches of its season, including an upset victory over Florida State, and their strong play has earned the Blue Devils (21-8) an opportunity to keep their winning streak going into December. Head coach Jolene Nagel and her team earned an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament Sunday night, and they will face 14th-seeded Tennessee (27-3) in a first-round game Thursday at 7 p.m. As a seeded team, the Volunteers will host the first two rounds at Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville, Tenn.
This will be an ACC record seventh straight postseason appearance for the Blue Devils, and the tenth in Nagel’s 13-year tenure. The team will look to add to the program’s total of 16 NCAA tournament wins, also an ACC record.
Duke is led by sophomore libero Ali McCurdy, who was named ACC defensive player of the year last week. She is joined on the conference first team by Blue Devils Kellie Catanach and Christiana Gray.
They will face a formidable opponent, however, as the Volunteers won their last 12 regular-season matches and emerged as conference champions from the SEC. Duke last faced Tennessee in a similar setting two years ago, in the first round of the 2009 postseason, a 3-1 Volunteer win.
If the Blue Devils defeat Tennessee, they will take on the winner of Ohio State and Middle Tennessee State in the second round Friday. Duke’s quarter of the bracket also includes No. 3 seed Illinois, No. 6 seed Northern Iowa and No. 11 seed Stanford. The field of 64 teams includes three other ACC teams—13th seed Florida State, Miami and North Carolina.
—from staff reports
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