Final ACC weekend ahead for Blue Devils

After ruining Florida State’s undefeated conference record Sunday in an exhilarating five-set match against the top team in the ACC, Duke heads up the Atlantic coast this weekend. It faces Maryland Friday night and then Boston College Sunday.

Although the Terrapins and Eagles rank at the bottom of the ACC, Duke head coach Jolene Nagel will not let her team take its opponents lightly.

“We’ve got to take care of business going into this weekend,” Nagel said. “Both teams have the potential to play really well.”

Maryland’s strength lies in its defense, which ranks third in the conference—once spot below the Blue Devils—in digs per set. Duke (18-8, 12-5 in the ACC) will look to its depth up front, with four hitters averaging more than two kills per set, to pick apart the Terrapin defense. Junior setter Remy McBain who ranks seventh in the conference with 9.7 assists per set, will face off against Duke setter Kellie Catanach, who stands second in the ACC with nearly 11 assists per set. The Terrapins (9-20, 3-14) come into the game Friday having been swept by Virginia Tech in straight sets, and fell to Virginia 3-1 this past weekend.

Boston College (7-21, 3-14) joined Maryland in having an unsuccessful weekend in Virginia, losing in straight sets to both the Cavaliers and Hokies. The Eagle offense has produced little success this season, ranking last in the conference in hitting percentage, assists, kills and blocks. Boston College senior Brennan Clark is one of the team’s bright spots, whose 5.02 digs per set rank her second in the ACC.

The Blue Devils will look to build on Sunday’s win over Florida State as their regular season wraps up with this weekend’s action followed by their third game in five days against Wake Forest Tuesday.

“It was great that we played so well this past weekend but we can’t slip up as we go into this weekend’s matches on the road,” Nagel said. “We’ve got to keep our focus on competing and getting the job done because this is when the NCAA tournament committee is going to be analyzing everyone’s play.”