Starting two freshmen and a sophomore, Duke showed no signs of youth Saturday night, easily dispatching an SEC opponent to remain unbeaten through the first weekend of the season.
The Blue Devils wrapped up the Duke Invitational with a 25-17, 25-16, 25-19 sweep of LSU at Cameron Indoor Stadium, with freshman Jamie Stivers, senior captain Jordan Tucker and junior Anna Kropf leading the team with 11 kills apiece. The win came hours after a shaky five-set win win against Eastern Kentucky and a day after a straight-set win to open the season against UNC-Greensboro.
Stivers and freshman setter Cindy Marina started all three matches along with sophomore Jesse Bartholomew, who entered the year with just four career starts. Sophomore Leah Meyer—who was third on the team in kills last season—missed all three games with an ankle injury and was on crutches with a walking boot Saturday night, but head coach Jolene Nagel said she does not expect the injury to keep her out for a long time.
"[We have] a lot of options, which is really nice. It makes my job really easy, makes everybody’s job really easy," Tucker said. "When you have a bunch of hitters that are ready to go, it helps tremendously."
Duke (3-0) broke the first set open against the Tigers with a 7-2 run sparked by powerful kills from Bartholomew and Kropf to take an 18-11 lead. LSU trimmed the deficit to 20-16 before essentially handing the set to the Blue Devils with two attack errors, a bad set into the net and a serve out of bounds.
The Tigers (2-1) rebounded to keep the second stanza close, as freshman Jariel Tureaud traded kills with Stivers to bring the two squads to a 13-13 tie. But Stivers freed herself for three straight kills to help Duke run away with the set to take a commanding 2-0 lead.
The 6-foot-2 outside hitter had six kills in the second set and was efficient throughout the match, finishing with a .320 hitting percentage. Stivers rebounded from the first two matches of the season, when she combined for just 10 kills and 12 attack errors.
"I just started feeling more like myself again. My teammates were really supportive of me, and we played together a lot," Stivers said. "Anna, Jordan and I all had 11 kills, and that’s really big—being balanced with your hitters and just playing together and keeping the momentum on your side."
Tucker silenced any hopes of a comeback in the third frame, tallying six kills in the set with several creative finishes and well-placed lobs to fluster the LSU back line. The Blue Devils gradually pulled away after Stivers broke a 9-9 tie with a kill and won when a spike by Tureaud landed out of bounds.
The rout was a resounding statement after the Blue Devils struggled to get past the Colonels. Eastern Kentucky (0-3) took the second and third sets to take a 2-1 lead, but Duke responded by winning the first 11 points of the fourth frame, eventually coming out on top 25-8 to force the deciding fifth set.
"Things like that can change on a dime, so it almost frightens me to know that we were able to play that fourth set so well and then still have to go into the fifth and just hope you don’t lose whatever you’ve got going," Nagel said. "The momentum changes can be really frightening in volleyball, but it’s really exciting to know our team stuck through."
The Colonels stayed within reach of an upset, with the Blue Devils never leading by more than four points in the fifth stanza, but Tucker's 16th kill of the afternoon gave her team the victory by a score of 25-14, 25-27, 22-25, 25-8, 15-13.
Tucker hit .452 in the match, and Kropf and senior Alyse Whitaker also reached double figures in kills.
Cameron was abuzz for Friday night's season opener against the Spartans (1-2), with freshmen students packing the house for an orientation week event featuring the pep band. Duke showed no first-match jitters in front of the fans and won 25-20, 25-19, 25-15, led by Bartholomew's 11 kills.
"It was awesome," Stivers said of the atmosphere with her classmates. "Our RA made a sign for us, which was cool. It was really fun."
The Blue Devils return to their home court Thursday at 6:30 p.m. for a major test against No. 19 North Carolina and play TCU at 6:30 p.m. Friday.
"This is exactly how we wanted to start, so to start on the right foot and also see a little adversity was really good for us," Tucker said. "We think we grew a lot this week. What more can you ask for? We’re excited about next week with big momentum going in."
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