Without last year’s offensive and defensive backbones, questions swirled around the Blue Devils entering the fall on whether they will have a chance at the postseason after falling short of an NCAA tournament bid for the second straight year.
But with freshmen and seniors alike stepping up in the season’s first weekend, Duke is off to a strong start in a challenging non-conference slate. The Blue Devils saved four straight match points in a dramatic five-set win against Colorado State to open their season Friday at Moby Arena in Fort Collins, Colo., followed by another five-set win against Central Florida and a sweep of Northern Colorado Saturday at Bank of Colorado Arena in Greeley, Colo.
“It’s really exciting,” Duke head coach Jolene Nagel said. “We came up just short last year for an NCAA tournament bid. The upperclassmen have been working forever trying to get back there.”
In the opening match of their trip to Colorado, Duke (3-0) held off the Rams (1-1) 27-25, 20-25, 30-32, 25-20, 20-18 to steal a victory from Colorado State, which received votes in the preseason rankings and played in the NCAA tournament last season.
The Rams controlled the beginning of the opening set, holding a 19-14 lead before Nagel’s squad responded with a three-point run to cut the difference to 19-17. A clutch block from junior Leah Meyer and sophomore Samantha Amos tied the set, but the Rams secured two set points before Blue Devil freshman Payton Schwantz extended the set with a kill both times.
Duke capitalized on a Colorado State error to take a 26-25 lead, and senior Cadie Bates—who had 20 kills in the match—closed the frame with a kill. However, the Blue Devils committed several miscues in the second set, only hitting .028 to let the Rams even the match.
The third set was a bitter back-and-forth, with both teams trading kills for 18 ties in the frame. Duke squandered six set points, and Colorado State used a kill and a block to win 32-30 and take a 2-1 advantage in the match.
The Blue Devils trailed yet again in the fourth set 12-9 before finally finding their footing with an 11-4 spurt to take the lead. Thanks to sophomore Natalie Schilling—who contributed six kills in the set—Duke leveled the score with a 25-20 victory.
On the brink of defeat in the final frame of the evening, Duke fought back from a 14-10 deficit to tie the match at 14. The teams alternated points until the score went to 18-18, when Leah Meyer and Bates contributed the final two kills to secure the win.
“This weekend is a result of the hard work and effort of our team to come together,” Nagel said. “It was a weekend of quality competition.”
The Blue Devils followed their success against Colorado State with another marathon victory the following afternoon, this time against Central Florida (1-2) by a score of 25-18, 15-25, 25-17, 23-25, 15-8. Duke commanded the first set, hitting .387 and finishing the frame on an 11-4 run. The second set was a far greater challenge, with the Knights taking the early lead at 9-2 and never letting the Blue Devils get much closer.
Duke surged yet again in the third set to take the lead once more, hitting .407 as a team, and although Central Florida secured a narrow fourth set, the outcome of the deciding fifth set was never in doubt. Throughout the match, the Blue Devils shined on defense, with Bates notching 18 digs and senior co-captain Nicole Elattrache taking 15.
“The team did a great job taking it one match at a time, one point at a time, one touch at a time, and working together and supporting each other and playing for each other,” Nagel said. “We were mentally very solid.”
Just eight hours later, Duke closed its Colorado campaign with a quick 25-8, 25-18, 25-19 sweep of Northern Colorado. Bates led the Blue Devils once again with 13 kills.
Duke dominated the first set with a .533 hitting percentage and never forfeited the lead. The final two sets were more competitive, but though the Bears (0-2) finally found themselves ahead at 10-9 in the third set, Duke broke a 9-2 run to cruise to the win.
After the busy weekend in Colorado, the Blue Devils will return home to Cameron Indoor Stadium to play UNC Wilmington Friday at 10 a.m. followed by a match that same day against Northwestern at 7 p.m. in the Duke Invitational. The Blue Devils will then close out another long weekend with a home match against South Carolina Saturday at 3 p.m.
“Hopefully, we will play well and play together,” Nagel said. “There’s a method to the madness as we put our schedule together where we put ourselves in the best position possible for the end of the year and NCAA selection.”
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.