Goodbyes are never fun.
Unless you can do it at home, against your arch-nemesis, to finish the regular season in winning fashion.
The Blue Devils will hope to give their seniors a memorable send-off with two victories this week in their last homestand of the season. Duke will host in-state foes N.C. State Wednesday at 1 p.m. and No. 22 North Carolina Saturday at 1 p.m. at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Two years removed from sealing their 2013 ACC championship with wins against the Tar Heels and Wolfpack, the Blue Devil careers of Emily Sklar, Maggie Deichmeister, Laura Williams, Breanna Atkinson and Christina Vucich are likely to come to an end this weekend.
“It’s kind of unreal just because… most of my career has been with them,” junior libero Sasha Karelov said. “I’m going to miss them off the court just as much as on the court.”
Sklar’s 10 kills Sunday against No. 20 Florida State gave her the fifth-most career kills of any player in program history, and she now sits just 14 digs shy of becoming the ninth Blue Devil ever to record 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs.
Deichmeister is playing in just her second fully-healthy season, but she has become the centerpiece of the offense this year, leading the team with 10.9 assists per set, good for third in the ACC. Williams has contributed six service aces and Vucich has added 14 kills playing the front right side of the net. Atkinson posted 151 kills as a junior to rank fifth on the team but has dealt with a lingering injury throughout the season, forcing her to miss 63 of Duke’s 102 sets.
The Blue Devils (15-13, 10-8 in the ACC) will face dangerous offenses this week. The Wolfpack (15-15, 4-14) feature four players—all underclassmen—with at least 280 kills. N.C. State is hoping to avenge a brutal loss against Duke Oct. 4 in which the Blue Devils trailed 2-1 but found a way to win in five sets.
Duke hung around with the Tar Heels (19-8, 16-2) for the first two sets in Chapel Hill Oct. 2 but lacked staying power in the third and final set, losing 17 of the last 25 points. The Blue Devils will need more energy to stop the well-balanced North Carolina offense. Five Tar Heels have posted at least 180 kills thus far, led by senior Paige Neunfeldt’s 233. North Carolina enters Saturday’s game the winner of 11 straight matches.
“It’s definitely harder with a team like that because you have to be ready for lots of different options,” Karelov said. “They’re a complete team, and that’s what makes them so good.”
It has been a season of “what-if’s” for the Blue Devils, who have forced fifth sets against juggernauts like Long Beach State, No. 6 Stanford and Florida State but have nothing to show for those efforts.
Duke has not endured a long losing skid this season—the Blue Devils have not dropped more than two straight contests all year—but has not reeled off an extended winning streak either. Coming into this weekend off a loss to the Seminoles, the Blue Devils will try to quickly right the ship against the Wolfpack.
Duke won four straight games from Oct. 23 to Oct. 31 and it seemed as though the team might find a way to squeak into the NCAA tournament. It still can, but the odds are much slimmer.
During that winning streak, junior middle blocker Jordan Tucker tallied 61 kills at a .482 rate, picking up ACC Player of the Week honors in the process. And even as the Prairie Village, Kan., native has continued to be a wrecking ball on offense, the Blue Devils have sputtered, splitting their six ACC contests during the last three weekends.
“This whole season, we’ve struggled with consistency…and not breaking down [under pressure],” Karelov said. “In the last few games, our focus is going to be on, ‘There’s no pressure, have fun,’ but also focus on ourselves and what we’re doing and not worry too much about the other team.”
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