The Hurricanes looked to take Cameron by storm, but an iron-clad defensive performance by the Blue Devils guided them to their second ACC victory.
Duke executed in key defensive situations to defeat Miami in a 3-0 sweep Sunday at Cameron Indoor Stadium to extend its winning streak to five games. The Blue Devils buckled down against Miami hitters, combining for 48 digs and nine blocks to prevent the Hurricanes from stealing the win away from home. Lifted by double-double performances from senior setter Kelsey Williams and sophomore defensive specialist Sasha Karelov, Duke found an answer for everything Miami sent its way.
“I really commend our team,” head coach Jolene Nagel said. “I think this team was where it need to be today mentally. We did a great job of not letting Miami take us out of what we were doing and what we were trying to do.”
Duke (10-3, 2-0 in the ACC) jumped out to an early 7-3 lead in the first set. Boosted by a hot start from junior hitter Emily Sklar, the Blue Devils looked to be on their way to grab the early set lead before allowing Miami (8-5, 1-1) to come back and tie it. Duke then mustered a defensive stand, fending off the rallying Hurricanes to set up a 24-21 match point and force a Miami timeout. When the match point serve sailed over the net, the Blue Devils emerged as the team with more intensity to their game, defending against two Miami attacks before closing the set out with a kill by sophomore Jordan Tucker.
Aside from some early back-and-forth in the second set, Miami never challenged Duke for control of the game again, as the Blue Devils clinched the sweep with a 25-19 second set and 25-14 third set.
Williams’ double-double marked her second in as many games, as the Pleasonton, Calif., native posted 12 digs and a staggering 40 assists Sunday. Williams’ strong start to her senior season bodes well for a Duke team that will rely on a balanced team effort to repeat as ACC champions in just a few months time.
“Kelsey did a good job mixing up our offense and moving the ball around, and I thought that she had good location as well on a lot of her sets,” Nagel said. “It was great for her to be able to come out and [post a double-double] for a second time. Just awesome.”
The Blue Devils maintained their perfect slate in ACC play, winning an emotional conference opener against Georgia Tech Friday night. After barely squeaking past Yellow Jackets, Nagel said that her team needed to improve communication, execute better on serves and do better at setting up the block moving forward. Although there’s still room for improvement, the Blue Devils beat Miami by executing in precisely those areas.
Duke proved to be the better communicators Sunday, winning points on extended volleys that spread out both teams. With Karelov anchoring the Blue Devil defense, Duke denied Miami star hitter Savanah Leaf on point after point, holding the senior—who ranks second in the ACC in kills per game—to a .281 hitting percentage. Karelov’s 11 assists and 13 digs marked the second double-double of her career.
“There was a huge defensive focus going into this game,” Williams said. “Miami has some great hitters on their side of the net, so we knew coming in that we really wanted to focus on the block and making some digs out there so we could run what we wanted to run on our side of the net.”
Duke also excelled on offense, posting a season-high team hitting percentage of .427 and setting an offensive tempo that Miami could not match. Tucker tallied 12 kills compared to only one error on 19 attempts, making her the Blue Devils’ most efficient scorer. The sophomore middle blocker said that Duke approached Sunday’s game as an opportunity to return to the efficient team offense that it showed in its sweep of Oklahoma only a week ago.
Committing only 10 errors Sunday compared to 19 against Georgia Tech, Duke looks to be making good on its commitment to improvement. As the ever-competitive race for the ACC title heats up, the Blue Devils will look to continue making adjustments to earn wins against tough teams just as they did against Miami.
“In the ACC every game is a battle,” Williams said. “We just take it one game at a time. We’ve been working on certain things in practice to get better at, and I think having those specific focuses helped our execution today. Every victory is a huge accomplishment, so we are really excited about our 2-0 start.”
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