Virginia is for lovers, and who doesn’t love a comeback?
Duke volleyball continued its long stretch on the road with a trip to the Old Dominion state. After getting swept by a strong Virginia squad, the Blue Devils returned the same treatment for a sweep of their own against Virginia Tech.
“That was disappointing to see,” head coach Jolene Nagel said of the Friday defeat. “But what was really great to see was how they turned around and bounced back for [Sunday].”
The weekend series in the Commonwealth began with a stop in Charlottesville, Va., to take on Virginia (15-4, 5-3 in the ACC). The Cavaliers have been formidable at home this season, having lost only once at Memorial Stadium leading up to the match. Meanwhile, Duke (8-11, 4-4 in the ACC) was still licking its wounds after a 3-0 loss on the road to N.C. State the weekend before.
“Virginia is playing well. They've had a couple big, big wins, and they play really hard,” Nagel said.
The entire match could be summarized with one word: “run.” The night opened with a tightly contested first set, as both teams traded the lead to a 15-15 tie before a six-point Virginia run catapulted the Cavaliers ahead to win the set 25-20. The second told a similar story, with a six-point mid-set surge by Virginia to establish an insurmountable 11-point lead before closing the set 25-18.
“We couldn't get into a rhythm,” Nagel said. “They play very hard, and we weren't actually able to get anything going offensively.
Having found a recipe for success, Virginia replicated its performance for a third time, leaping ahead with a seven-point mid-set run and cementing the sweep with a 25-18 third-set victory.
Duke then traveled to Blacksburg, Va., Saturday to prepare for the Sunday spar against Virginia Tech (7-11, 1-7 in the ACC). An off-day practice at Cassell Coliseum offered an opportunity for the Blue Devils to regroup after the back-to-back sweeps.
“Some people would go nuts,” Nagel said. “But it was more of a talk about the fact that we have to lift our level of play and we have to set high expectations for ourselves.”
By late Sunday afternoon, Duke was ready to face off again, hoping to secure a win to stay .500 in league play. The Blue Devils came out strong and leapt to a comfortable seven-point lead in the first set with key offensive plays before closing it 25-19. The second set was a different story, with neither team extending beyond a two-point lead. After swapping the leading position seven times, Duke edged out Virginia Tech 25-23 with an ace from Taylor Williams and an error from the Hokies.
“These matches are so tight that you've really got to stay in it mentally to be able to continue to execute well,” Nagel said.
The third set mirrored the first, with an aggressive Duke offense capitalizing on errors from Virginia Tech. The Blue Devils established an early trajectory to victory by opening the set with a five-point run, followed shortly afterwards by a seven-point sequence for a commanding 13-5 lead. Duke continued its offensive dominance, closing the match and solidifying the sweep with a 25-16 third-set win.
“Today we felt a little more confident in [our game],” Nagel said Sunday. “Our outside hitters really came through.”
The Blue Devils showcased a strong offensive wall with Taylor Williams, Kerry Keefe, Rachel Richardson and Breonna Goss each tallying impressive kill totals, bolstered by setter Grace Penn. A proficient blocking game from Duke led to an increasingly desperate Virginia Tech offense overextending itself to drop 17 errors on the match against the relatively clean 11 errors from Duke.
“We did a good job on just minimizing our errors,” said Nagel. “When we can do that, we have a much better chance of being successful.”
Overall, the weekend continued a strong offensive showing from some of the younger players on the Duke squad, with freshman Williams building on her momentum from a standout performance against Wake Forest last week. With 11 kills, the Mountain View, Calif., native led the Blue Devil offense to victory over the Hokies.
“Taylor has gotten a good amount of time earlier in the season, but certainly she's finding her moments to really step up and make a difference,” Nagel said, “just like she did against Wake Forest.”
Duke now faces a challenging ACC slate at home beginning Friday with Miami.
“Well, I haven't exhaled too much yet, but I hope to tonight and then right back at it in the morning,” Nagel said. “Hopefully our team can enjoy this win and get some rest, because we're going to have to come ready to go for those opponents.”
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