Riding a nine-game winning streak, the Blue Devils face their toughest weekend of ACC competition yet with hopes of remaining undefeated in conference play.
No. 21 Duke will host Virginia Friday at 6:30 p.m. and No. 11 North Carolina Sunday at 1 p.m., returning to Cameron Indoor Stadium after two weekends on the road. The Blue Devils swept the Cavaliers to kick off their slate of four away games Oct. 3 and will attempt to repeat that result at home before taking on the Tar Heels.
Sunday’s rivalry match promises to showcase each team playing its toughest volleyball.
“The Duke-Carolina rivalry for volleyball in particular has been tremendous throughout the time that volleyball has been here at Duke,” head coach Jolene Nagel said. “I witnessed that when I was an assistant over at UNC in the mid-80s. It was big back then and continues to be big. The teams are always very competitive within the league and almost always playing for the opportunity to win the championship.”
The Tar Heels (13-2, 4-1 in the ACC) earned their 10th sweep of the season Friday against Virginia. North Carolina has only fallen to ranked opponents this season, with losses to then-No. 11 Illinois Aug. 30 and then-No. 6 Florida State Sept. 26. In 15 matches, the Tar Heels have only dropped 11 sets, nine of them to ranked opponents.
Redshirt senior Chaniel Nelson paces the Tar Heels on offense. Earning ACC Player of the Week honors after her performances against Pittsburgh and Clemson, the outside hitter knocked down six kills without an error against the Panthers and 17 kills against the Tigers. Along with Nelson, outside hitters Leigh Andrew and Lauren McAdoo will also be difficult to contain.
North Carolina boasts impressive talent at the net as well, with Victoria McPherson and Paige Neuenfeldt combining for 129 total blocks in 15 games. The middle blockers stepped up in the Tar Heels’ match against the Cavaliers, forcing Virginia to make errors on attack and turning the match around after the North Carolina squad almost lost the first set.
To take down the Tar Heels, the Blue Devils (14-3, 6-0) will also have to step up at the net. That responsibility will fall to a pair of sophomores: Alyse Whitaker leads Duke at the net with 62 blocks in 17 games, averaging one block per set, and Jordan Tucker has contributed 49 blocks this season.
On offense, outside hitters Emily Sklar and Jeme Obeime will have to be efficient on attack and not allow McPherson and Neuenfeldt to alter their approach at the net. Obeime and Sklar enter the matches this weekend with hitting percentages of .308 and .280, respectively.
The Blue Devils will look to draw on the energy of the Cameron Crazies Sunday afternoon. The match will be televised on ESPNU, which Nagel hopes will draw a host of loud and spirited fans to help Duke pull off the upset in the rivalry match.
Momentum from the Blue Devils’ performance in the Virginia match Friday night will also be a key factor heading into Sunday’s game.
Duke swept the Cavaliers in Charlottesville, Va., just two weeks ago, showing strong execution on defense and solid team communication. But Nagel does not want her squad to be too confident heading into the rematch in Durham.
“That’s one of our biggest challenges, playing Virginia so recently,” Nagel said. “We were able to win in three, but I don’t want our team to be overconfident and not prepare as much as they should. We have to do our due diligence to make sure we are prepared for them.”
The Cavalier trio of Tori Janowski, Jasmine Burton and Kayla Sears leads the squad on offense. All three outside hitters average around three kills per set.
Virginia (11-8, 4-2) enters Friday’s match riding a wave of confidence after a thrilling match at Virginia Tech Sunday, coming back in five sets to claim a victory against the Hokies. The Cavaliers dropped the first two sets 12-25 and 17-25, but emerged from a halftime talk in the locker room a different team, relying on Janowski, Natalie Bausback and freshman Haley Fauntleroy. Making her first collegiate start, Fauntleroy recorded eight kills and two blocks to spur the Cavaliers to the win.
Bolstered by the come-from-behind win and an impressive performance by a rookie, Virginia may be a different opponent than the squad Duke swept two weeks ago.
“For them, it doesn’t even matter what happened two weeks ago,” Nagel said. “I expect them to come ready to play and to execute well.”
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.