Disappointed Friday by their second loss at home, the Blue Devils regained confidence with a convincing win against Syracuse on the road Sunday.
Duke swept the Orange 25-16, 25-21 and 25-19 at the Women’s Building just two days after falling to Pittsburgh in five sets. The squad had given up the match to the Panthers by failing to communicate and capitalize on opportunities. Flying to New York the next day, the Blue Devils needed to quickly turn their game around for another conference match.
A different Duke team stepped onto the court Sunday.
“We were crushed after Friday night,” head coach Jolene Nagel said. “Then we had to pick ourselves up. I was impressed with how they regrouped as a team. It shows a lot of character that they were able to more forward and focus on what we needed to do to get the win today.”
Duke (18-6, 10-3 in the ACC) opened the match with a 12-8 lead before the first timeout, with five points coming from Syracuse errors. Led by sophomore Jordan Tucker, the Blue Devils picked up steam after breaking the huddle. The middle blocker knocked down three consecutive kills to extend the lead to seven points.
Tucker amassed 12 kills and five blocks in the three-set match.
“Jordan did a great job today,” Nagel said. “She took away a part of the court with the block. She was fast off transition and the serve receive and got a good number of attempts.”
The offense was firing on all cylinders, with three more Blue Devils recording double-digit kills. Outside hitter Emily Sklar led Duke with 16 kills, and middle blocker Alyse Whitaker recorded 10. Senior Jeme Obeime sealed the match with her 10th kill.
Syracuse (8-17, 1-12) could not keep up with Duke’s offensive firepower. Lindsay McCabe and Leah Levert each assisted on three of the Orange’s six total blocks, and Silvi Uattara recorded a team-high of nine digs.
The Blue Devils also amassed six total blocks, but libero Sasha Karelov led the defensive effort with 22 digs, helping to hold McCabe to nine kills in the match.
The Blue Devils easily claimed the first set 25-16—the largest lead of the game. Duke traded the lead with the Orange squad in the opening points of the second frame, as kills from Sklar and Whitaker gave the Blue Devils a lead they would not relinquish. Duke claimed the second set 25-21.
Syracuse was unable to mount a comeback in the final set, with its only lead in the frame coming from a Blue Devil attack error on the first point. Duke earned the 3-0 victory with a 25-19 performance in the final set.
The Blue Devils have been competing this weekend without outside hitter Brianna Atkinson, who rolled her ankle in the opening set against Virginia Tech last Sunday. The junior had played in every match of the season, collecting 148 kills, 96 digs and 38 blocks in the 21 games.
Junior Christina Vucich stepped in for her classmate this weekend. Vucich recorded four kills and two blocks Sunday and seven kills in Friday’s loss to the Panthers. She had not played since Sept. 13 at Santa Clara, when she recorded one kill in her two sets on the court. Vucich played in all eight sets this weekend.
“It has been exciting to see other people take advantage of an opportunity at that position,” Nagel said. “Vucich went in there and did a great job offensively for us.”
Sunday’s win was a much-needed confidence booster for the squad, but the Blue Devils will need to focus on maintaining their communication and rhythm from Sunday. Duke has only five games left in the regular season, and will take on two more ranked opponents—No. 3 Florida State at Cameron Indoor Stadium Nov. 13 and No. 8 North Carolina in Chapel Hill Nov. 26.
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