The volleyball team is back in familiar territory -- the NCAA tournament -- but things are a little different this year.
The Blue Devils, coming off a four-game win over Kentucky on Saturday, had their first glimpse of the NCAA tournament bracket on Sunday night, and they liked what they saw.
As the fourth-seeded team in the South Region, Duke received a first-round bye in the 48-team draw. The Blue Devils will face the winner of Wednesday night's match between Georgia and Appalachian State on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. in Cameron Indoor Stadium.
The second round match will be Duke's second home NCAA tournament match in history, and its first since 1984. This is the fourth straight year that the Blue Devils have reached the NCAAs.
The winner of Duke's second round encounter will likely travel to face top-seeded UCLA in the third round. The Bruins were moved into the south to balance the regions.
Duke would love a shot at playing perennial powerhouse UCLA, as several Blue Devils came to Duke from the West Coast.
"Everyone on the team is really excited about the tournament," sophomore middle blocker Kristin McMahon said. "The winner of us against Georgia will play UCLA. Everyone has always wanted to go to California and play. Georgia is a really good team, and we lost to them last year. Everyone is really excited to play them."
The Blue Devils (23-5), who cruised to their fourth straight Atlantic Coast Conference tournament title last weekend, struggled in notching their 23rd victory on Saturday.
Kentucky (13-21), the team Duke eliminated last year to reach the NCAA round of 16, completed a disappointing season, but the Wildcats didn't go quietly against the Blue Devils. Duke pulled out the 16-14, 15-10, 12-15, 15-10 decision.
Despite their subpar play, the Blue Devils were happy to get another match under their belts following last weekend's ACC tournament.
"We didn't play great, but we managed to struggle through," head coach Jon Wilson said. "We wanted to play, because I think that first match after the conference tournament is hard. It's difficult to come back off that emotional high.
"Now we have some continuity going into the NCAAs. You need to go through competition after an emotional high like we had."
Duke was led by senior Ashley Wacholder, the ACC tournament MVP. Wacholder blasted 27 kills and added a team-high 33 digs. Wacholder, who is still nursing an injured right shoulder, confused the Kentucky defense with a mix of power and precision.
"I didn't really swing that hard," Wacholder said. "I tried to place the ball and not use as much power."
Senior Adrian Nicol, the 1994 ACC player of the year, registered 18 kills and 27 digs, while fellow senior Briar Blach added 17 kills.
"Briar played an awesome match on offense," Wilson said. "Those three seniors played really well."
Originally, Duke-Kentucky had appeared to be a marquee matchup on the schedule. The Wildcats eliminated the Blue Devils from the 1992 NCAA tournament, and Duke had revenge in 1993. But the Blue Devils entered Saturday's match knowing they would not face the Kentucky team of old.
The players had seen arch-rival North Carolina break a six-match losing streak by defeating Kentucky on Friday, and they knew it would not take their best effort to beat the Wildcats.
"We played pretty sloppily," Wac-holder said. "It was kind of hard having to watch them the night before and knowing that they weren't very good."
Still, the players said that playing the match will help them when the NCAAs begin.
"We were coming off a huge win, and we got this out of our systems," Wacholder said. "I think the ACCs was such an incredible high that it was only natural to have a down match."
"I think it was definitely a good idea to schedule this game," McMahon said.
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