Despite the heightened excitement, the Blue Devils (9-20, 5-13 ACC) left with a devastating loss against Cal (13-17, 5-13 ACC). Both teams entered the contest coming off losses, with Duke fresh off a tough 3-0 home loss to Stanford. Cal seized control early, leaving the Blue Devils with a disappointing 3-1 defeat inside Cameron Indoor Stadium.
It was going to be an uphill battle from the start, and the Blue Devils were swept 3-0 for the third time in a row. Driving four-and-a-half hours north to South Bend, Ind., Duke turned its sights to Notre Dame, hoping to snag a win to break the string of losses away from home. In a hard-fought match, the Blue Devils fell in a 3-1 loss to the Fighting Irish.
Duke traveled to SMU and Pittsburgh in a set of matchups against two top-10 teams. The Blue Devils lost both contests in sweeps, falling to two of the best teams in the nation.
The Blue Devils defeated Clemson 3-1 Sunday afternoon in Cameron Indoor Stadium. After a competitive start, Duke managed to find its groove and take control, showcasing its strength throughout the four sets.
Duke volleyball welcomed Miami and No. 19 Florida State to town for a pair of weekend matches, and dropped both to the Floridians. The losses came in very different manners; The Blue Devils lost to the Hurricanes in a tough, back-and-forth matchup Friday evening but Sunday’s game was a different story, with the Seminoles dominating wire-to-wire.
After getting swept on the road by a strong Virginia squad, the Blue Devils returned the same treatment for a sweep of their own at Virginia Tech.
While students were relaxing during their fall break, Duke volleyball took a few trips down tobacco road this weekend, winning against Wake Forest Friday and dropping a matchup with N.C. State Sunday.
After losing Wednesday’s home matchup against North Carolina, the Blue Devils traveled to Chapel Hill hoping for a better outcome. Unfortunately for the Duke faithful, they got swept again in a dominant showing.
During the fall season, The Chronicle is polling its readers every week via its Sportswrap newsletter to highlight one Blue Devil athlete’s outstanding performance. This week’s spotlight goes to Grace Penn of Duke volleyball.
The Blue Devils and Tar Heels were neck-and-neck well into the business end of the third set, tied at 23 before a block from North Carolina and an error from Duke sealed the match in straight sets.
The Blue Devils started off ACC play with two home games, winning both against the northern duo of Boston College and Syracuse on Friday and Sunday, respectively.
With fall sports thoroughly underway, The Chronicle is polling its readers every week via its Sportswrap newsletter to highlight one Blue Devil athlete’s outstanding performance. This week’s spotlight goes to Duke volleyball’s Rachel Richardson.
With the fall sports season underway, The Chronicle is here with a breakdown of every sport, including key rules, terminology, tournament formats and more. Up next is an explainer on volleyball.
Duke volleyball (4-5) defeated Princeton (2-4) in five sets in its first matchup of three at a weekend tournament hosted by No. 3 Penn State. The Blue Devils finished the weekend 1-2 after beating the Tigers and losing to the Nittany Lions and St. John’s.
Following a tightly contested stumble against LSU 3-1 Thursday, Duke thumped its way to secure two victories against Davidson 3-1 Friday night and FIU 3-0 Saturday afternoon, with the offensive wall of Rachel Richardson, Kerry Keefe and Rylie Kadel — sporting matching pink hair ties — providing massive hits all weekend.
Duke volleyball started off its regular season with a hard-fought 3-2 victory against a punchy Colgate team coming off a NCAA tournament appearance. The vibes were high in Cameron Indoor Stadium after Friday’s victory, but the Blue Devils weren’t able to maintain momentum for the rest of the weekend, losing to No. 13 Kansas and South Carolina in 3-1 losses.
With a roster of 18 and seven newcomers — including four freshmen and three graduate transfers — the focus of the Blue Devils leading up to the season has been team-building and integration. And with a stacked nonconference schedule and a strong ACC lineup, the pressure is on for Duke to perform.
In a heartbreaking end to its regular season, Duke, despite winning the first set and leading late in the second and fourth sets, fell to North Carolina in five sets Friday afternoon in Chapel Hill. With the loss, Duke now sits right on the bubble for selection into the NCAA tournament.
The gritty energy the Blue Devils showed in the third set against Clemson Sunday was a common theme on the weekend, where two close sets helped Duke get another straight-set win just two nights earlier at Virginia.
Duke won its Friday and Sunday games, taking down Wake Forest 3-1 and Virginia Tech 3-0 in a weekend of program milestones.
