Volleyball conquers ACC with undefeated season

With two wins this weekend, the volleyball team captured its third straight Atlantic Coast Conference regular season crown and increased its winning streak to 20 consecutive games. The Blue Devils knocked off Florida State and N.C. State in Cameron Indoor Stadium to complete an undefeated ACC season and tally a 25-2 record (14-0 in the ACC).

Though the Blue Devils expected a difficult match against FSU (19-8, 8-5 in the ACC), Duke handily defeated the Seminoles 15-3, 15-12, 15-6.

The Blue Devils jumped out to an early 7-1 lead in the first game behind the strong serving of senior co-captain Janie Borcherding who started the match with four quick points. Duke never looked back and won the first game with relative ease. In the second game, however, the Blue Devils were sluggish and fell behind 12-8.

"We had won the first game a little easier than we had anticipated," head coach Jon Wilson said. "I think we just started a little slow [in the second game], and then we pressed a little bit to try to get back in it when they got a little lead, so their lead kind of stuck around and grew a little bit. But then we settled down, and we got into our rhythm.

"You know, we are a good team. That [letting up a little in game two] is just a kind of the normal ebb and flow. You don't like to see it happen, but the obvious plus to that is that we came back well, and you just take the comeback and be happy with that."

Junior Ashley Wacholder, who registered 15 kills for the match, stepped up in the second game to help get the team rolling again.

"We were playing well, but we just let up for a minute," Wacholder said. "I think the passing broke down, but once we got it back together, everything was fine. I think we played really well on our side of the net. They didn't show up to play at all. We focused more on just playing together as a team and everyone came out and played really well as a unit."

Once the Blue Devils found their rhythm, they scored the final seven points of the game and rode their momentum all the way through the third game.

Wacholder continued her strong play with a team-leading 26 kills, while Adrian Nicol notched 18 of her own.

"I was hoping to play well [in our final regular season game at home]," Rohrig said. "I wanted to make it a special night."

The game started off in the usual fashion for Duke, as it easily won the first two games.

But in the third game, Duke fell behind 11-1 before losing 8-15. Then in game four, the Blue Devils rallied to win the match, increasing their level of play tremendously.

"We just thought that it was ridiculous to lose that game," Rohrig said. "We could play so much better [than they did in game three]. I just tried to play better, and so did everybody else."

Rohrig led the team in the final game, involving herself in nearly every point.

"I think that in the beginning of the game, I was struggling mentally," Rohrig said. "I couldn't find the focus."

Duke found its focus in the final game and quickly won, sending the Wolfpack home to Raleigh with a loss.

Duke now looks ahead to the ACC tournament which will take place next weekend in Cameron.

The Blue Devils will be the top seed, having blazed through the conference undefeated.

"I think we are going in confidently, but at the same time, we never really had an easy game," Rohrig said. "We definitely have the advantage, but we have to work as hard as we have all semester. We are hungry to win and have some really good, tough competition in the tournament."

Wilson and his team will have the week to prepare for the tournament.

"We've had a good year, and we have a lot of positive lessons from the season so far to draw on," Wilson said. "We are doing what we need to do right now."