After dropping two straight matches to Florida teams last weekend, the Blue Devils hope to have better luck in Virginia to end a four-game losing streak.
Duke will face Virginia at Memorial Gymnasium in Charlottesville, Va., at 7 p.m. on Friday and then travel to play Virginia Tech at 1 p.m. Sunday at Cassel Coliseum in Blacksburg, Va. The Blue Devils are looking for consistency following a series of unexpected injuries and hope to see continued success from outside hitters Payton Schwantz and Cadie Bates.
“It’s not easy to play on the road in the ACC, but our team never stops getting better,” head coach Jolene Nagel said. “We made some good progress after last weekend and I hope we’ll show that on the court this weekend.”
Last weekend, Duke dropped both of its matches, one to Miami and one to Florida State, to fall to ninth overall in the ACC. The Blue Devils also are still missing injured sophomore Natalie Schilling and junior Leah Meyer. Schilling is one of Duke’s five players with more than 100 kills, and Meyer was a preseason All-ACC selection.
Missing two key players, the Blue Devils will look to Schwantz and Bates. Schwantz recorded double-digit kills in 14 of Duke’s 19 matchups the season and also ranks second on the team in kills. The freshman has a hitting clip of better than .250 on the year. Bates has recorded 10 double-doubles and trails only libero Nicole Ellatrache in total digs and digs per set this season. Ellatrache owns the second-most digs in the ACC.
“Cadie has really been playing well and I’m looking forward to seeing her continue to have the success that she’s had,” Nagel said. “She’s a key leader for us out there with her playing six rotations, and she has really played well.”
The Blue Devils will face the struggling Cavaliers (4-15, 0-8) for the first matchup of the weekend. Virginia is carried by sophomore Jelena Novakovic and freshman Alex Spencer—the former leads the Cavaliers with 2.87 kills per set and has recorded double-digit kills in 10 matches so far this season. Spencer paced Virginia with 17 kills last weekend and hit better than .350 in both of the Cavaliers’ last two matches.
The second challenger for Duke will be Virginia Tech (7-12, 1-7), another team that has struggled in ACC play and is looking to turn its season around. Looking past their record, the Hokies are coming into this weekend hot following record-breaking performances from setter Rhegan Mitchell and right side hitter Jaila Tolbert.
Last weekend, Mitchell extended her streak of 40-plus assists for four matches, and Tolbert pounded down a career-high 22 kills. Virginia Tech also has benefitted from strong play by freshman Ester Talamazzi, who has turned in consecutive double-doubles and has recorded more than 100 kills in conference play so far.
“Right now, our focus is all on Virginia. Then we’ll turn it to Virginia Tech. But these wins would be tremendous for this team,” Nagel said. “The team has been working hard, they’ve been doing the right things—they’ve been working together and playing for each other—I would be really excited to see them truly succeed this weekend.”
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