Duke volleyball looks to take down undefeated No. 3 Florida State

As Duke heads into its last home weekend of the season, it will have to play the underdog, a role it is not used to playing against ACC competition.

The Blue Devils will take on undefeated No. 3 Florida State Thursday at 6:30 p.m. at Cameron Indoor Stadium before facing Notre Dame Sunday at 1 p.m. for Duke's Senior Night.

After a tough five-set loss to Pittsburgh last week, the Blue Devils redeemed themselves against Syracuse in just three sets to improve their record to 10-3 against ACC opponents.

“Our focus is really on continuing to try to get better,” head coach Jolene Nagel said. “We do a lot of evaluation as we get done with a weekend and try to help our team get better.”

With five ACC contests left in the season, the team is taking it one match at a time with it’s foremost focus on handing Florida State (24-0, 12-0 in the ACC) their first loss of the season.

This task will be Duke's tallest of the season, as the Seminoles have swept nine of their opponents, or 37.5 percent of their slate. But as the Blue Devils proved last year, Florida State is beatable. Duke downed the Tallahasse, Fl., squad 3-2 at home en route to its ACC Championship run. If the Blue Devils want to make a similar run in the postseason tournament this year, they will need to start with a solid match against one of the nation's top teams.

“This match against Florida State is obviously a big match. They’re a very good team, a big team, a talented team,” Nagel said. “They’ve obviously had a ton of success this year and it’s going to be a very tough match in front of us but we’re excited to have the opportunity to play them and to play in Cameron.”

Following Thursday’s matchup, the team will shift its focus to Notre Dame (6-18, 3-10), a squad that the Blue Devils played earlier in the season. Duke overpowered the Fighting Irish in four sets Oct.5.

“We’re a little bit more familiar with Notre Dame but we still need to make sure we prepare to the utmost because our team is well aware of the fact that if you don’t come and play the way you’re capable of, then you can’t be successful,” Nagel said.

Sunday’s game is especially significant for the team’s two graduating seniors, Kelsey Williams and Obeime, as it marks their final regular season home game in Cameron.

Williams has appeared in 56 total matches in her time in Durham. She chose to return to the Triangle after high school, as she graduated from Amador Valley High School in Pleasanton, Calif., but was born in Raleigh, N.C.

Obeime has appeared in 117 total matches and has been named to the All-ACC Freshman team, honorable mention AVCA All-American squad and All-ACC Academic Team in her career thus far at Duke. She has been an anchor for the Blue Devil offense in all four seasons, and both players have led the squad as veteran leaders in their final season.

“We have had such a wonderful experience with these two seniors here at Duke that we couldn’t have asked them to have worked any harder or be any more committed than they were,” Nagel said.

The team shows promise in its younger members, as freshmen Nicole Elattrache, Emma Paradiso and Cadie Bates have made a significant contribution in their initial season.

“They’re doing a great job at the gym for us, coming to work hard every day, coming to compete and making us better,” Nagel said. “We’re very excited about our freshmen and what they’ve done to contribute to our team and they’re doing it every day in practice.”

Although the regular season is wrapping up, Nagel believes the team can accomplish a lot in its remaining contests and make a run at its second consecutive ACC championship.

“We’ve got five more matches, that’s a lot of ACC matches left to play,” Nagel said. “Really what we’re trying to do is still, trying to get better every time we step out on the court, and work for that each day in practice.”