The Blue Devils got to play 10 exciting sets of volleyball last weekend but return to Durham with only one victory to show for their hard work.
Duke took down Boston College Friday after falling behind 2-0 to start the match, and then fell just short against Maryland Sunday.
Duke (14-13, 5-10 ACC) got off to a slow start in the first of its five-set thrillers, recording a .156 hitting percentage and dropping the match’s first two frames before rallying to knock off the Eagles (21-25, 24-26, 25-19, 25-15, 15-5).
“Going up to [Boston College], we knew was going to be a tough and important match for us,” head coach Jolene Nagel said. “We came out not communicating in the first two sets, we were making a lot of errors which was frustrating.... But then, [in sets three through five] our hitters started to put the ball away and then we started to get some runs. The fourth and fifth sets were not close at all. They were a good team and they put a lot of pressure on us. It was nice to see that we could recover after getting down [two sets to none].”
After two sloppy opening sets, the Blue Devil defense imposed its will on Boston College (10-17, 4-11 ACC). Led by middle blockers Christiana Gray and Chelsea Cook, who combined for 10 blocks on the night, Duke held Boston College to just 28 kills in the final three sets.
The Blue Devils jumped ahead 15-10 to start the third set, but the Eagles battled back to within three at the 21-18 mark. Duke won four out of the final five points to take the frame and regain some lost momentum.
Midway through the fourth set, Duke once again began to widen its lead. A kill by sophomore setter Kelsey Williams put the Blue Devils up 11-7, and forced a Boston College timeout. But the Eagles could not make anything happen on offense, and a kill and a block by sophomore outside hitter Jeme Obeime finished off the stanza and tied the match at 2-2.
Duke dominated the fifth and final set, holding the Eagles to a hitting percentage of just .050, sealing the come-from-behind victory.
Freshmen Elizabeth Campbell and Emily Sklar, along with Gray and Cook, posted double-digit kills on the night. Campbell tallied 16 kills and 20 digs, and Sklar registered 11 kills and 10 digs. Gray and Cook added 16 and 11 kills, respectively. Sophomore setter Kelsey Williams facilitated the offense, which posted a hitting percentage of .333 in the final three sets, dishing out 44 assists on the night.
Junior libero Ali McCurdy’s defensive effort also proved vital to the Blue Devil comeback. McCurdy recorded 23 digs—placing her second in Duke history with 1,834 digs in her career.
After Friday’s tough match in Boston, Duke headed to College Park to take on the Terrapins (14-13 5-10 ACC).
The Blue Devils committed 25 attack errors on the night, and Maryland recorded a .260 hitting percentage, taking the match (25-27, 25-23, 25-22, 23-25, 15-10).
The opening stanza went back and forth between Duke and the Terrapins, with both sides committing eight errors. After a kill by Sklar put the Blue Devils up 24-22, a Maryland kill and a Sklar attack error tied the game at 24-24. Sklar then proceeded to knock down two consecutive kills and give Duke the opening set.
The Terrapins jumped out to a 5-0 lead to begin the second frame, but Duke closed the gap and took the set all the way down to the wire before a Maryland service ace gave the Terrapins the set and tied the score at 1-1.
Despite recording a hitting percentage of .444 in the third frame, the Blue Devils once again dropped a close set, and Maryland took a 2-1 advantage.
“We had our opportunities,” Nagel said. “We just didn’t capitalize on them and they were able to capitalize on the opportunities we gave them... I feel like at times there were some defensive balls we could have gotten, but for some reason we froze and lacked communication. And some of our errors just came at really bad times.”
With a 22-20 lead in the fourth stanza, a Maryland kill and a Duke attack error leveled the score at 22-22. After a Blue Devil timeout, a kill by Gray, a Terrapin attack error and a block by Obeime gave Duke the set and tied the score at 2-2. After falling behind 5-0 at the start of the last frame, the Blue Devils eventually rallied to come within one of Maryland at 8-7. But the Terrapins widened the gap and easily took the last set, recording 12 kills and just two attack errors.
Duke once again put four players in double-digit kills, led by Campbell with 17. Gray recorded 15 kills and four blocks, and Obeime added 10 kills. Sklar was the only Blue Devil to record a double-double, racking up 13 kills and 15 digs. Williams facilitated the attack with 59 assists.
“There were definitely some good things that happened today, but we didn’t capitalize on some of the easy stuff,” Nagel said. “I think people were frustrated, but it was definitely a learning experience for our younger girls especially.”
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