Sportswrap is your one-stop shop for everything Duke athletics, where we’ll recap how each of Duke’s sports currently in competition performed over the last week and give a brief look ahead. Here’s our recap for the week of Oct. 23-29:
Football
In their chance to put themselves in the driver’s seat to reach the ACC Championship, the Blue Devils floundered, dropping their second-straight road game, this time to then-No. 18 Louisville 23-0. Duke (5-3, 2-2 in the ACC) looked lifeless for the majority of the game, failing to get anything going on offense and struggling to stop the Cardinals’ star running back Jawhar Jordan, who ran for 163 yards and two touchdowns. In addition, the squad continues to rack up injuries, as left tackle Graham Barton was unavailable and captain Jacob Monk went down in the first quarter. The Blue Devils now fall to 5-3 on the season, and will have little time to right the ship on a short week, as Wake Forest comes to town Thursday evening. -Caleb Dudley
Men’s soccer
It was a dominant week for the Blue Devils, who outscored their two opponents by a combined margin of 14-1. Duke (10-3-2, 4-3-2) opened its two-game homestand with a 7-0 shutout of Howard Tuesday night, riding an Ulfur Bjornsson hat trick to victory. The second game of the week, against Virginia Tech, was another blowout. While the first half ended at a 1-1 tie, the home squad exploded in the second half to run up a 7-1 win. Now with the regular season concluded, the postseason begins with an ACC tournament game against Boston College Wednesday night at Koskinen Stadium. -Martin Heintzelman
Women’s soccer
When No. 25 Duke traveled to Louisville Thursday, the stakes could not have been higher. The team needed the win to get a .500 record and thus clinch a bid to the NCAA tournament. However, in the clash against the Cardinals, the Blue Devils (6-7-3, 2-5-3) could not deliver. Duke left the state of Kentucky after suffering a heartbreaking 1-0 loss that ended its season despite peppering the Louisville net with 15 shots. Senior Emma Hiscock netted the winning goal for the Cardinals in the 36th minute, while Kat Rader and Grace Watkins each had four shots for the Blue Devils. Senior Leah Freeman had one save on the night as well. Duke will now look to rest and recover before beginning preparation for the 2024 season. -Mackenzie Sheehy
Field hockey
After five conference wins, No. 2 Duke couldn’t close out the perfect ACC slate, falling 2-1 to reigning national champions and field hockey dynasty North Carolina. The game was scoreless through three quarters with the Blue Devils’ senior midfielder Charlie van Oirschot breaking through on a penalty corner, but it only took the Tar Heels 26 seconds to tie the game. They sent the game-winner past goalie Piper Hampsch two-and-a-half minutes later. Duke (14-3, 5-1) couldn’t strike again as it dropped its ninth-straight to its Tobacco Road rival. The Blue Devils have the No. 2-seed in the ACC tournament and begin postseason play Tuesday against Wake Forest. -Rachael Kaplan
Volleyball
The Blue Devils had a momentous week as they defeated both of their local rivals. Earning their first win against North Carolina since 2017, Duke (15-8, 6-6) defeated the Tar Heels 3-1 Wednesday evening. After dropping the first set 25-20, Duke narrowly gained the second set 25-23 after 15 ties, and with the four-set win, the Blue Devils broke their five-game losing streak against North Carolina. Duke continued to defeat in-state foes as it beat N.C. State in a close five sets Friday evening 3-2. Barely winning the fifth set 15-13, the Blue Devils logged a match-high .412 hitting percentage with nine kills to inch out the win. The win Friday not only moved Duke to 6-6 in the ACC, but gifted the Blue Devils with their 34th consecutive home win against the Wolfpack. Duke continues its play against in-state foes Friday, facing Wake Forest at home. -Anna Newberry
Cross country
Duke kicked off its postseason Friday at the ACC Championships in Tallahassee, Fla., which showed promise from both teams. Junior Amina Maatoug headlined the women’s squad with a 19:29.9 time, good for second place in the 6k race. Maatoug’s historic performance, the highest individual placement by a Blue Devil in the ACC Championships since 2013, earned her all-ACC honors. Meanwhile, senior Austin Gabay continued his impressive season with a 23:54.6 8k for a 24th-place finish. Both squads finished seventh in the meet for the second year in a row. Next, the Blue Devils travel to Spartanburg, S.C., Nov. 10 for the NCAA Southeast Regional, where they will push to reach the NCAA Championships as a team for the first time since 2020. -Tyler Walley
Swimming and diving
Duke brought fierce competitive spirit to its first home meet, which ended in another split. Though the women’s team beat UNC Wilmington 188-104, the men fell just short with a final score of 152.5-145.5. Junior Margo O’Meara stole the spotlight, as she broke Duke’s pool record with an impressive 1-meter diving performance. The rest of the women’s team also made large contributions, snagging first-place finishes in all but two events. On the men’s side, swimmers JC Castrillon, Blake Johnson and Andrew Li managed to secure instrumental first-place finishes. Both programs will look to carry momentum from the meet into next week as they take on N.C. State in Raleigh Friday. -Abby DiSalvo
Women’s tennis
The Blue Devils struggled to find consistency and upset top-seeded players at the ITA Fall Regionals in Chapel Hill last weekend, but showed signs of improvement from the beginning of the season. No. 36 Emma Jackson claimed a definitive win in the quarterfinals before losing in the semifinals. Katie Codd won her first and second matches of the tournament before falling in the round of 16. The two doubles teams that competed were also unable to reach the finals. The team will continue to work on its performance in both singles and doubles before its next appearance at the N.C. State Invitational in Raleigh starting Friday. -Emily Wang
Men’s tennis
It was an encouraging round of matches for the Blue Devils at the ITA Regional Championships in Cary, N.C., last week. The graduate student duo of Michael Heller and Andrew Zhang headlined the event for Duke by making a run to the doubles final, but fell in two sets to N.C. State’s Joseph Wayand and Martin Borisiouk. On the singles side, sophomore Pedro Rodenas’ run ended in the quarterfinals, also against Wayand. Up next for the Blue Devils is the ITA National Championships in San Diego starting Wednesday. -Andrew Long
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.