Few teams can withstand the loss of one of the most dominant players in program history right away, and head coach Jolene Nagel is not looking to any individual to fill the void left by three-time All-American Emily Sklar. But Nagel needs a team effort to do the trick.
Sklar graduated with the fifth-most career kills in the school record books, and her absence forces senior middle blockers Jordan Tucker and Alyse Whitaker to step up in 2016. It also creates opportunities for more underclassmen to see the floor. Freshman Jamie Stivers and sophomore Jessi Bartholomew each started Duke’s first three matches of the season as outside hitters—Sklar’s position.
“I don’t know if you can replace an Emily Sklar,” Nagel said. “I just think it is a team, and that’s a wonderful thing about volleyball, so fortunately, we don’t have to depend necessarily on [one player]. We have some other things we can really work with and ultimately make it just as good, if not better.”
The Blue Devils started developing that sense of team chemistry soon after a disappointing 2015 season ended with some off-the-court changes in the program. Nagel said the team reorganized the locker room so that players were not split apart by class and seniority.
The four seniors—co-captains Tucker and Sasha Karelov and Whitaker and Chloe DiPasquale—embraced the changes and made a conscious effort to get to know the freshmen from the day they arrived on campus in July.
“We’ll go take them out to dinner, take them to Target. They don’t have cars yet, so we’ve gotten to spend a lot of time with them,” Tucker said. “They’re a crazy group of girls, and they’re so fun to just hang out with. Our whole team is.”
The improved chemistry is starting to pay dividends on the court with no clear go-to offensive weapon.
Five different players led Duke in kills during its three wins to open the season—Bartholomew notched 11 against UNC-Greensboro, Tucker had 16 against Eastern Kentucky and Stivers, Whitaker and junior Anna Kropf all finished with more than 10 kills each to lead the Blue Devils past LSU.
Stivers took two matches to find a rhythm but finally got on the same page as her teammates against the Tigers, with many of her sets coming from fellow newcomer Cindy Marina. Both starting freshmen were PrepVolleyball.com High School All-Americans, and Stivers credited her veteran teammates for her early success and confidence at the college level.
“They just welcomed us in so well, and I know I can always look to them if I’m struggling or if I need a shot that I need to go to,” Stivers said. “A goal to shoot for would be ACC Freshman of the Year. That’s a big thing for me.”
Another talented underclassman, Bartholomew saw the floor infrequently last year as a freshman, playing behind Sklar and notching just four starts. But her work in practice and during the offseason paid off immediately with a career high in kills in the season opener against the Spartans. The Newnan, Ga., native added 14 kills combined in the next two matches to help the Blue Devils remain unbeaten.
“She has really worked at trying to get better and also being more efficient as a hitter,” Nagel said. “She’s really worked on her arm swing, she’s worked on communication, she’s really worked on trying to have a good contact point and everything, so she’s made a lot of progress since our season ended last year.”
Tucker leads the team with 3.0 kills per set through three matches, but that number is only slightly better than her total from last season and still does not approach Sklar’s 3.8 kills per set in 2015. Instead, the added production is coming from the newcomers to the lineup—Bartholomew, Stivers and Kropf—taking pressure off of Tucker and Whitaker on the floor.
Sophomore middle blocker Leah Meyer missed the first three matches of the season with an ankle injury after starting every match and playing all 109 sets last year, but when she returns, Duke will have six legitimate attacking threats that can all play together. Even without Sklar, Duke’s depth and young talent could surprise opponents in the ACC this year and should lay a strong foundation for years to come.
Amrith Ramkumar contributed reporting.
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