The volleyball team got back on the winning track this weekend as it ventured to Tallahassee, Fla., and defeated Florida State 3-0. The Blue Devils crushed the Seminoles in three games on Saturday night, winning 15-10, 15-5, 15-9 to raise their series record against FSU to 13-3. Duke is now 7-14 overall and 6-4 in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
The Blue Devils were led by team sophomore Maureen Reindl and senior Virginia Hall.
Reindl, an outside hitter, collected 12 kills and 10 digs. Outside hitter Hall racked up 10 kills and four serving aces. Duke, as a team, had 53 kills, 44 assists, 11 serving aces and 44 digs while the Seminoles scored 34 kills, 29 assists, four serving aces and 36 digs in comparison.
"Going into this game, the focus was on us to be more consistent, to maintain confidence and to keep the momentum in our favor for the whole game," Hall said.
The Blue Devils dominated and kept the match in their control for all three games. The entire team worked to keep morale high. Most of Duke's players were able to play their roles well against the Seminoles. Sophomore middle blocker Jill Van Oort and freshman Jordan Schultz came off the bench in the third game and played well, sparking Duke's continual momentum.
"We proved to ourselves that we could control the consistency of the match," head coach Linda Grensing said. "Our goal was to be steady."
The remaining matches of the season will be tough for the Blue Devils.
"This game was critical for us in preparing for the games coming up and heading into the ACC tournament," Hall said.
Winning would boast the morale of any team. The Blue Devils hope that this win will build up momentum to carry over to other matches.
"No matter who we play, we play hard, and we play to win," freshman middle blocker Chrissie Lukasiewicz said.
Based on the Blue Devils' regular-season record, most people would count Duke out of the NCAA tournament, but if the team was to win the conference championship, the Blue Devils would get an automatic bid.
"We have every chance to do well," middle blocker Liz Neuhaus said. "Don't count us out yet."
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