Desperate for a big win, Duke got one Friday night in Indiana.
Following a rough recent stretch, the Blue Devils took down Notre Dame in straight sets (25-19, 25-17, 25-20) at Purcell Pavilion in South Bend, Ind., shaking off their two most recent losses to pick up a much-needed conference victory. Jordan Tucker and Cadie Bates led the way offensively Friday, each recording a dozen kills. Tucker's 12 spikes marked her fourth straight match with double-digit kills, bringing her total to 69 during that span.
“Jordan has been extremely consistent for us starting with our North Carolina match,” Duke head coach Jolene Nagel said. “She’s been very productive offensively, really working hard up there to get open for the ball and also working hard on the block.”
Bates added seven digs and two blocks, providing energy all over the court for Duke (8-9, 3-4 in the ACC). Senior Emily Sklar—normally the offensive catalyst for Nagel's squad—chipped in 10 digs to go with her eight kills.
Duke posted efficient hitting percentages all night, finishing both the first and third sets at or better than .300. By contrast, the Fighting Irish (6-13, 1-6) were plagued by attack errors, committing 19 in all that led to a .105 hitting percentage for the match.
The first set was a back-and-forth affair until the Blue Devils used a small spurt to create some separation. Kills by Tucker and Bates and a pair of Notre Dame attack errors turned an 8-7 Duke lead into a 12-7 advantage. The Blue Devils closed out the set strong as well, notching four of the final six points to jump out to a 1-0 lead.
“Early in each of the sets it was back-and-forth, back-and-forth, but we were able towards the middle and ends of the sets to finally get some momentum going and maybe score more than one point at a time,” Nagel said.
After letting sets slip of their grasp in the previous two matches—five-set heartbreakers to then-No. 18 Florida State and Miami—the Blue Devils found a way to close out each one against the Fighting Irish (6-13, 1-6). Their toughest challenge came in the third set, when Notre Dame held a 13-12 lead before a 7-2 Duke put to rest any thoughts of a miraculous Irish comeback.
Notre Dame got 14 kills from Sam Fry, but no other player reached double-figures. Sophomore Maddie Plumlee—sister of Duke men’s basketball center Marshall Plumlee—had six kills, and Ryann DeJarld led the way defensively for the Fighting Irish with 18 digs.
“I felt like the team really wanted to be successful,” Nagel said. “I felt like maybe the last time we didn’t play with as much intensity, the sense of urgency that we needed to, so I felt like we did a better job of that tonight, which was wonderful.”
Redshirt senior setter Maggie Deichmeister spread the ball around the court, collecting 35 assists, most of which went to Tucker, Bates and Sklar. Junior Alyse Whitaker and freshman Leah Meyer combined for the other 11 Blue Devil kills. Nagel also pointed to the quality play of junior libero Sasha Karelov—who picked up 19 digs—to help set the table for the offensive attack.
Duke will look to carry its momentum down Interstate 65 to the KFC Yum! Center, where the Blue Devils will play No. 25 Louisville at 1 p.m. Sunday. Like Duke, the Cardinals cruised to a victory on Friday night, defeating Wake Forest 3-0 (25-20, 25-14, 25-21).
“They’ve been beating up on people with their ball control and their ability to get their hitters the ball,” Nagel said.
Duke left South Bend after the win Friday and stayed overnight in Indianapolis. Nagel said the team planned to arrive in Louisville around midday Saturday and get in a quick practice Saturday afternoon.
“We’ll get in there tomorrow and have a practice, be able to loosen up a little bit, shake off the road dust, and hopefully feel good on Sunday to play really hard, because we’re going to need to,” she said.
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