After an up-and-down nonconference slate that ended on a high note, nearly a third of Duke’s roster is about to get its first taste of ACC play.
The Blue Devils are set to host Wake Forest in their conference opener Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. at Cameron Indoor Stadium before traveling to Charlottesville, Va., to take on Virginia at Memorial Gymnasium Saturday at 7 p.m. Duke’s young team finished an inconsistent month of nonconference play with two straight wins last weekend, but the most important part of the season still lies in front of the Blue Devils.
“We graduated five experienced players and we have five new freshmen, so I think there’s a little bit of a difference there,” Duke head coach Jolene Nagel said. “There’s going to be a learning curve ahead for us.”
Freshmen Jamie Stivers and Cindy Marina are two of just three players that started all 10 nonconference matches for the Blue Devils (6-4), and freshman outside hitter Samantha Amos got her first career start in Saturday’s win against UNC-Wilmington, finishing with nine kills.
Underclassmen have been responsible for more than 300 of Duke’s 531 kills this season, but senior Jordan Tucker still leads the team with 109. Tucker is one of the few major contributors left from last year’s team that finished the regular season on a tear, winning nine of its final 12 conference games.
“It would be nice to be able to build on that from last season, but I just think this team has worked hard to develop since the end of that season into kind of a new team,” Nagel said. “This team has a different court personality. I think they have a different relationship as teammates as well, so I don’t know if we can carry that [success] over.”
Tucker and Duke’s three other seniors have never lost to Wake Forest (4-7) in their careers, and the Blue Devils will try to extend their winning streak against the Demon Deacons to eight Wednesday. Like Duke, Wake Forest will have several new faces to prepare for.
Freshman Caroline Rassenfoss is second on the team in kills with 153, just behind junior Kylie Long’s 172. Redshirt junior Bailey Shurbet is also new to the Demon Deacons after transferring from Kansas State, and is their top setter with 323 assists.
Wake Forest started the season slow with just one win in its first six matches, but it has started to show improvement in the last two weeks, winning three of its last five contests.
“We’re familiar with a couple players, but they’re going to look quite a bit different than they did last year,” Nagel said. “We’re just trying to educate our team and familiarize them through videotape and everything. That’s all we have to go on.”
After the rare mid-week game, the Blue Devils will have plenty of time to rest before making their first ACC road trip of the year to Virginia (3-9). Duke got some road experience against Long Beach State and Loyola Marymount in a tournament in California in nonconference play, though it lost to both teams.
The Cavaliers are mired in a seven-game losing streak, but played a very challenging nonconference schedule that included seven power-conference teams. Five of Virginia’s seven losses during its string of futility have been sweeps, and it squandered a two-set lead and a pair of match points against the College of Charleston its last time out.
Although the Cavaliers beat Duke last year early in conference play, they lost three of their four players that reached double-digit kills in that match. Their top returner is senior Haley Kole, who leads Virginia with 120 kills this season and is second on the team with 1.5 digs per set.
Just two Cavaliers have more than two kills per set, and the team has combined for 239 attack errors—resulting in a subpar .153 hitting percentage. Despite not starting the season on the right foot, Virginia is 2-1 on its home floor and will be playing at home this weekend for the first time in September.
“Virginia and Duke—we’re similar schools, unlike some of the other schools in the ACC,” Nagel said. “Our team is going to be excited to be on our first kind of road trip, traveling with our favorite bus driver on the bus to the game…. We’ll give it our best shot.”
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