Last time, the streak ended there, with a 3-1 loss to N.C. State Oct. 13. Duke has not lost since then, but this weekend the stakes are even higher. Setting out to keep their two-game lead atop the ACC standings, the No. 13 Blue Devils have to take on two top-5 ACC foes on the road, playing Miami Friday at 7 p.m. and No. 19 Florida State Sunday at 1 p.m..
“We know both of these opponents are going to be very strong, and there’s no doubt that it’s an important weekend for us,” head coach Jolene Nagel said. “So we’ve got our work ahead of this weekend, but we’re just going to take it one day at a time and one match at a time.”
Taking it one match at a time has been a key to the team’s success this year, Nagel said. After starting the season 4-2, Duke has gone on a 20-1 tear that includes 12 straight-set victories.
Having made drastic improvements from last year’s 15-17 record, Duke (24-3, 15-1 in the ACC) enters this weekend’s trip to Florida with a chance to sweep the season series with each opponent having already defeated both teams earlier in the season in Durham.
Although the Blue Devils cruised to a straight-set win at home against the Hurricanes (16-10, 9-7), Nagel expects to see a more dangerous squad Friday.
“I don’t think they had their best match when we played them in Durham, so I think they’re going to be better than the last time we played them and give us something else to look at,” Nagel said. “We have to be prepared to know that.”
Although Miami enters its rematch with Duke having lost three of their last four matches, the Hurricanes boast several dangerous individual players.
Outside hitter Savannah Leaf ranks second in the ACC in serves and third in the conference in kills per set at 3.89, just behind Duke’s Emily Sklar.
Complementing her on the inside, middle blocker Emani Sims ranks third in the ACC with 1.28 blocks per game, contributing to a strong Miami net presence.
“Both of them are really athletic players,” Nagel said. “They’re both very explosive and they can hit a lot of angles, and they get up over the net to block a lot too, so we have our work cut out for us on them. They’re both tremendous athletes with very nice volleyball skill, and we’re going to have to stop them to be able to get by Miami.”
Like the Blue Devils, the Hurricanes also benefit from an experienced libero. Just as Duke senior Ali McCurdy continues to extend Duke’s all-time digs record, Miami senior Ryan Shaffer became her program’s all-time digs leader in a victory against Notre Dame Nov. 15. This season she ranks third in the conference in digs per set behind McCurdy and Clemson’s Beta Dumancic.
Should the Blue Devils defeat Miami, their Sunday matchup with the Seminoles (20-7, 13-3) will give Duke an opportunity to put Florida State out of contention for the conference title. Duke has not won in Tallahassee since a five-set thriller in 2008.
“[The Seminoles] always get some tremendous crowds and it’ s very loud in there,” Nagel said.
In the last two years, Duke has combined to win just a single game in road matches against Florida State.
“The last few years it seems we’ve had to go down there very early in the season when we were still trying to figure out our team and find ourselves, and they’ve had a very good team and a very experienced team,” Nagel said. “So I just think the circumstances are a little bit different right now than they have been in the past just because of the time of the year that we play them. We’ve had a little more chance to develop.”
Although Duke might benefit from playing the Seminoles later in the season, Florida State has also been improving as the season has unfolded.
Since playing Duke Oct. 25, the Seminoles have won five of six games, defeating both of the other two top teams in the ACC standings: North Carolina and N.C. State. And Florida State has not lost on its home court since Sept. 6 when No. 24 Ohio State upset the Seminoles 3-1.
“With Florida State, the match could have gone either way the last time,” Nagel said. “I look for the exact same thing to happen as we head down there, so hopefully we can continue to play point-by-=point and make that our focus as we go into both these matches because I think that’s what we’re going to need to do.”
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