Duke's volleyball team entered the weekend's matches against Atlantic Coast Conference co-leaders Georgia Tech and Clemson with high hopes of climbing in the conference standings. But a pair of losses has moved the Blue Devils (6-13, 5-4 in the ACC) closer to the middle of the pack.
Late collapses and horrendous fourth games proved to doom the Blue Devils.
They led the Yellow Jackets (21-6, 9-2 in the ACC) 2-1 on Friday before falling apart in the fourth game and losing 15-1. Duke then lost the fifth game by a 15-11 margin.
Sunday, the Blue Devils fared little better in the fourth game against Clemson (21-6, 9-2 in the ACC). After jumping out one game to zero, Duke lost three straight games--including a 15-2 loss in the final one.
"We're kind of like a ship with no guns and no rudder," head coach Linda Grensing said. "We played great in games one and two [against the Tigers], struggled a little bit in game three and we didn't show up in game four.
"I think it's a lack of leadership. No one is willing to step up when the situation gets dangerous. But if a situation gets tough, we need to step up."
The Blue Devils began Sunday's match against the Tigers impressively, winning the opening game 15-13 after falling behind 11-4 early on. Duke had a .231 hitting percentage in that game, led by freshman Megan Irvine's seven kills.
But then things started to turn ugly.
Duke held serve with a 13-10 lead in the second game, but three consecutive service errors gave the win to the Tigers. The Blue Devils totaled 13 service errors in the match, seven in game two.
The Blue Devils then seemed to lose their confidence, as they bowed out meekly in the final two games. They had a minuscule .018 hitting percentage in losing the third game 15-10 before losing the last game 15-2.
"By winning the third game, it gave us a tremendous advantage going into the fourth," Clemson head coach Jolene Jordan Hoover said. "We wanted to put the pressure on [Duke], and they couldn't respond."
The lone bright spot for Duke was Irvine. She paced Duke with 18 kills and a .349 hitting percentage. Irvine also had three solo blocks and 15 digs.
Irvine also starred for Duke against the Yellow Jackets, tying Maureen Reindl for the team lead in kills with 16.
After splitting the first two games, Duke continued to roll in the third game, winning it 15-12. Irvine and senior Virginia Hall each registered .500 hitting percentages for the game.
And then came the fourth game and Duke's collapse. After Duke tied the game at one, Tech ran the gamut by scoring the next 14 points. The Blue Devils hit an abysmal -.282 in the fourth game to seal their fate.
The fifth game saw a resurgence for Duke, as it held a 9-7 lead late in the match. But Georgia Tech rallied for eight of the next 10 points to steal a win.
"We were very inconsistent in our whole approach to the [Georgia Tech] game," Grensing said. "When our minds were focused, we did a god job of competing. But the other times, we just weren't there."
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