A trip to the Sunshine State will be more than just fun and games for the Blue Devils. It will be as tough an ACC road trip as there is, with Duke hoping to avenge two bitter five-set losses from earlier in the season.
The Blue Devils take on Miami Friday at 7 p.m. at the James L. Knight Sports Complex in Coral Gables, Fla., and Florida State Sunday at 1 p.m. at Tully Gymnasium in Tallahassee, Fla., in their last road games of the season. Although Duke is 9-5 away from Cameron Indoor Stadium this year, the Hurricanes and Seminoles are a combined 23-2 at home.
“They’re both healthy, so they’re going to be ready to go,” Duke head coach Jolene Nagel said. “It’s a tough trip. Not only are the opponents really tough, but the travel itself is a challenge.”
The Blue Devils (14-12, 9-6 in the ACC), who played at home this past week, will have little down time this weekend. After Friday's contest at Miami, Duke will fly back to North Carolina, connecting through Charlotte on their way to Tallahassee. The Blue Devils then take on N.C. State Wednesday.
Miami (18-8, 11-4) and Florida State (20-7, 13-3) have both played at home the past two weekends, including a four-set win for the Hurricanes against the Seminoles. To make matters tougher for Duke, the Blue Devils have not played at either venue since 2013, meaning the underclassmen will have to adjust quickly to a pair of hostile environments. Tully Gymnasium is especially challenging—Florida State head coach Chris Poole has a student section named after him called the “Poole Party.”
“Florida State especially, they always pack their gym,” senior outside hitter Emily Sklar said. “It’s always really difficult to play there, they’re super loud and their fans have coordinated cheers. They’re not super nice either.”
Duke lost heartbreakers to both teams during Columbus Day weekend. The Blue Devils led Florida State 2-0 before dropping the next two sets, and then took an 8-4 lead in the fifth frame before losing 11 of the match’s last 15 points.
Two days later, Duke led 2-1 against the Hurricanes, but again could not close the match. Nagel’s team is 2-4 in five-set affairs this season.
“From the first games, I think we can really just execute better,” Sklar said. “We had a lot of long rallies.”
Besides the environment, Miami poses a challenge for Duke at the net in the form of its team leader in kills, outside hitter Olga Strantzali. In addition to posting 311 kills this season, the sophomore leads the conference in service aces with 42. But Strantzali did struggle against the Blue Devils, with no aces and six service errors in the teams' first meeting Oct. 11.
“Hopefully, we can control her serve and do a good job when we get a chance to pass it,” Nagel said. “She’s got a great serve, and it helps them a lot.”
The Seminoles are currently third in the ACC standings and boast a multi-pronged offense. Senior Nicole Walch’s 367 kills are the best on the team, followed by sophomore Milica Kubura’s 230. Junior Hailey Luke and freshman Briana Burket lead the team with 581 and 486 assists, respectively.
For Sklar—an AVCA All-America first team selection as a sophomore—the focus going into the weekend is on just taking the contests one at a time. The San Jose, Calif., native is having another career year, with 237 digs and a team-high 312 kills.
If there is any silver lining out of such a busy, difficult upcoming schedule, it is the opportunity for revenge.
“We were so darn close the last time when we had them at home,” Nagel said. “We’re excited to have another chance to play these opponents.”
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