As the Blue Devils close out their series of road matches, they return to Durham not having dropped a single set to two ACC opponents.
During the weekend, Duke extended its win streak to nine straight matches, defeating Boston College Friday in Chestnut Hill, Mass., before blanking Wake Forest Sunday in Winston Salem., N.C. The pair of victories kept Duke unbeaten in ACC play.
The Blue Devils were prepared to work hard against the Eagles Friday night, both offensively and defensively. During the first few points of the match, the score remained close. But with some help from numerous Boston College attack errors, the Blue Devils (13-3, 6-0 in the ACC) were able to take control of the opening set, 18-12. Crucial kills by junior outside hitter Breanna Atkinson and sophomore middle blocker Alyse Whitaker helped the team to a 20-13 lead, and a service ace from junior outside hitter Emily Sklar, followed by a kill from senior outside hitter Jeme Obeime, secured the first set for Duke, 25-17.
Set two opened with a 4-0 Boston College spurt, but a 6-0 Duke run for a 16-11 lead set the pace for the rest of the set, which the Blue Devils would go on to secure 25-15.
“I was really excited to get this win on the road,” Duke head coach Jolene Nagel told GoDuke.com. “We’ve been traveling a lot and every single one of these ACC matches is important.”
Overall, the Blue Devils performed impressively, putting up 14 blocks as a team, while defensive specialist Sasha Karelov, the ACC leader in digs per set, continued her stellar sophomore campaign, posting 17 digs on the night. Offensively, Duke maintained a consistently high hitting percentage throughout all three sets, with three players—Obeime, Sklar and Whitaker—putting up double-digit kills.
“We were really excited to see the numbers we had in block tonight,” Nagel said. “We work very hard on our timing and setting the block and being disciplined with it. I thought tonight the team did a good job of that.”
Sunday afternoon, the Blue Devils traveled back from Massachusetts to take on the Demon Deacons at Reynolds Gym. Wake Forest accepted a similar fate to the Eagles, as neither team was able to capture a set against Duke. Nagel insisted that this particular win was a significant one for the Blue Devils, who entered the match having lost three of its past four against the Demon Deacons. But another strong offensive performance helped the Blue Devils execute and remain atop the conference standings
The two teams remained neck-in-neck for the majority of the first set, but crucial kills from Sklar—who amassed 17 kills on the afternoon—and Obeime, who secured 12 of the overall 52 team kills, allowed the Blue Devils to inch ahead to a 25-20 set victory. Duke managed to hold Wake Forest to 15 points in each of the following two sets, thanks to five service aces and only six service errors. Senior setter Kelsey Williams notched her third double-double of the season, with 36 assists and 11 digs, bolstering both offensive and defensive performances.
“I felt like our offense and our serving got us started,” Nagel said. “Our serve was doing well and our hitters were going after what we wanted to go after. Our block came along as the match went on and that helped our defense.”
The Blue Devils credit a lot of their success to the overarching theme of teamwork and communication, two things the team consistently stresses in practice. Nagel sees good chemistry among the players both on and off the court, and the past two weekends of travel have been successful, she says, because of the team’s commitment to both to volleyball and to each other.
“That’s a big piece of our team right now,” Nagel said. “We have fun together, which helped us survive this stretch we had on the road. I think today says a lot about them and their character.”
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