Each week, we’ll recap how all of Duke’s sports currently in competition performed over the last week, and give a brief look ahead.
Men’s basketball
An already grim outlook on this 2020-21 Duke men’s basketball season got even drearier this past week. The Blue Devils not only lost to North Carolina on their home court, but followed that contest up with an additional loss, this time to Notre Dame. Duke (7-8, 5-6 in the ACC) is below .500 in February for the first time since 1995, and is nowhere to be seen in ESPN’s latest mock NCAA tournament bracket. The squad will take on N.C. State this Saturday, but will need far more than just a win against the Wolfpack to secure a March Madness bid. -Jake Piazza
Men’s lacrosse
In typical Duke men’s lacrosse fashion, the Blue Devils got off to a bit of a slow start to the season, entering the second quarters of their two opening games down by a considerable margin. But ultimately, Duke’s talent and depth pushed the No. 1-ranked team in the country to two comeback victories. First, the Blue Devils picked up a 12-10 win against then-No. 5 Denver, with highly-touted freshman Brennan O’Neill notching a hat trick and an assist in his collegiate debut. Then, Duke took down Robert Morris, with 10 different Blue Devils contributing a goal. The Blue Devils (2-0) will face Mercer this coming Saturday. -Sasha Richie
Volleyball
The Blue Devils picked up right where they left off from the fall season, taking down VCU 3-0 in the team’s spring opener. It was a stellar night for junior libero Mackenzie Cole, who registered 25 digs and a team-high three aces, surpassing the 1,000 dig mark for her collegiate career in the process. Meanwhile, outside hitters Ade Owokoniran and Gracie Johnson led the offensive attack with 15 and 12 kills, respectively. Duke (7-2, 6-2) will get a break before taking on in-state foe Appalachian State Feb. 17. -Piazza
Men’s tennis
Duke struggled this past weekend, dropping both of its matches against No. 10 Tennessee and No. 19 Kentucky by scores of 4-0 and 4-3, respectively. The Blue Devils (2-4) have now fallen out of the top-25 rankings, and will be looking for their first match win of February when they host East Tennessee State and Furman this coming weekend. -Micah Hurewitz
Indoor track and field
Several Blue Devils posted impressive performances at the VT Elite Meet in Blacksburg, Va., this past weekend. Sophomore Ezra Mellinger and senior Erin Marsh continue to shine, with the former placing second in the men’s long jump with a distance of 7.44 meters and the latter finishing third in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.32 seconds.
The highlight of the event, though, was Ben Beatty capturing the school record in the men’s shot put, with the redshirt senior reaching 18.42 meters to take home third place. Elsewhere, Duke finished second in the men’s 4x400 event and third in the women’s 4x400. Next up for the program is the Tiger Paw Invite, which takes place Feb. 12-13. -Max Rego
Wrestling
Duke fell to No. 15 Virginia 42-3 last Friday, continuing its slow start to the season. Redshirt junior Josh Finesilver picked up his 16th career dual win, however, and is now 3-1 in dual meets on the season. The Blue Devils (0-4) will travel to N.C. State this Friday against the seventh-ranked Wolfpack. -Alex Jackson
Cross Country
Duke competed at the FSU Winter XC Classic last Friday in its lone regular-season meet this spring, with the 23rd-ranked Blue Devil women finishing third out of 18 teams and the men finishing sixth out of 20. Senior Michaela Reinhart paced the women in 20th place, with fellow senior Amanda Beach, junior Sara Platek, sophomore Samantha Schadler and freshman Victoria Patterson rounding out the top five. Meanwhile, junior Chris Theodore led the men in 13th place, followed by seniors CJ Ambrosio and Josh Romine, freshman Jared Kreis and senior Alex Miley. With NCAA Regional meets cancelled this year, each Blue Devil squad would need to qualify for the NCAA Championships (taking place March 15) to continue their season. -Evan Kolin
Fencing
Duke impressed in its lone regular-season competition before the ACC Championships later this month. The Blue Devils travelled to Columbus, Ohio for the Ohio State Invitational, with the men finishing 2-2 Saturday and 2-0 Sunday while the women went 3-2 and 3-0. Finn Hossfeld and Sarah Lurye led the men and women with 10 and six wins, respectively, on Saturday, while Stephen Kim and Lulu Tang secured five and eight wins, respectively, on Sunday. -Piazza
Swimming and diving
The Duke divers dominated UNC Wilmington this past Saturday to close out the regular season, with a Blue Devil finishing first in every event. Ellie Winslow, Duke’s lone senior diver, secured a career-high score of 321.98 in the women’s three-meter dive after being honored for Senior Day prior to the meet. On the men’s side, sophomore Seamus Harding Jr. was the lone competitor in the platform event and notched the fourth-best score in Duke history. The Blue Devils now look forward to the ACC Championships, which will take place Feb 17-20 for the divers and the women’s swim team and Feb 24-27 for the men’s swim team. -Rosie Li
Men's golf and women's tennis did not compete this past week. The former will compete at the Seminole Intercollegiate Feb. 19-21, while the latter takes on Appalachian State this Sunday.
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