Duke volleyball takes homestand momentum on the road to Wake Forest

After defending their home court last weekend, the Blue Devils must take that momentum on the road as they continue their ACC campaign.

Duke takes on Wake Forest Wednesday at 6:30 p.m at Reynolds Gymnasium in Winston-Salem, N.C., to kick off a four-game road trip. In the two weekend games against Pittsburgh and Virginia Tech, the Blue Devils responded well to adversity, coming back to upset the Panthers in five sets, and then overwhelming the Hokies with a balanced performance on both sides of the net.

“It was an emotional and physical weekend for us. So they were tired. They were happy to have some time on Monday [to rest],” Duke head coach Jolene Nagel said. “I think they were excited to have such a good weekend. I reminded them that we have half the ACC season left right now. So we’ve got a lot of play yet to go.”

In the last encounter between the two teams, Duke (10-10, 5-5 in the ACC) swept the visiting Demon Deacons (10-12, 2-8) to start their ACC season at Cameron Indoor Stadium. So far this season, Wake Forest has struggled at home, holding a 3-5 record in Winston-Salem. The Blue Devils have won three out of five matches heading into Wednesday’s contest, and have posted a 3-4 record on the road overall.

“I don’t worry about [our road record],” Nagel said. “We had injuries at Long Beach State and at Kansas.... I feel like we are a pretty solid road team, and it’s not easy to go on the road. But we haven’t really been on the road that much, so it doesn’t faze me.”

Wake Forest head coach Ken Murczek will look to sophomore outside hitter Kylie Long to carry the Demon Deacon offense. The Plano, Texas, native has 298 kills this season and averages 3.7 kills per set, posting 14 at a .480 hitting percentage in her last game against Pittsburgh. In addition, junior middle blocker Hanna Lee has stepped up in serving, recording 33 service aces this season, tied for second-most in the ACC.

Defensively, Wake Forest is led by sophomore libero Caroline Wolf, who was tabbed the ACC Co-Player of the Week Oct. 19. She followed up the weekly honors by logging 22 total digs against Pittsburgh and Virginia Tech and became the 15th Wake Forest player to have more than 900 digs in her career. 

Duke’s offense ranks third in the ACC with 14.2 kills per set, courtesy of four players who average at least two kills per set. Senior outside hitter Emily Sklar leads the way with 3.9 kills and 3.0 digs per set. Middle blockers Jordan Tucker and Leah Meyer have also made their presence felt, combining for 31 kills in the victory against Virginia Tech Sunday. The win against the Hokies was the seventh  time in nine matchs that Tucker reached double-digit kills.

Junior libero Sasha Karelov spearheads the Blue Devil defense with 5.0 digs per set this year. Up front, Duke’s blocking has steadily improved throughout the season—the Blue Devils outblocked the Hokies 11-8 Sunday, including a game-winning rejection by Meyer and senior setter Christina Vucich. Meyer is the team leader in total blocks and blocks per set and has made a well-rounded impact for the Blue Devils in her first year in Durham.

With the injury plague slowly receding, Duke will have most of its strength back and will look to improve its on-court chemistry as the season passes the midway point.

“I think this team has a lot of [potential] in them, and we are excited to play our next ACC opponent and put all the hard work we’ve been putting in up against and see how we do,” Nagel said.