The Duke volleyball team continues its tough early season schedule this weekend with matches against Wisconsin and Nebraska. The Blue Devils (2-2) will face both teams in Cameron Indoor Stadium, taking on the defending national champion Cornhuskers on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and the Badgers on Sunday at 12:30 p.m.
Duke hopes to rebound from a loss to third-ranked Texas on the last weekend. Though the Blue Devils were swept in that match, the second game, when Duke led 12-11 at one point, proved to the team that they can hold their own with any team in the country.
The Blue Devils face a daunting task again in this weekend's matches. No. 4 Nebraska ranks in the top 20 nationwide in three separate statistical categories. They are 13th in kills, ninth in assists, and second in the nation in blocks, at 3.67 per game. Added to these impressive team statistics are two highly ranked individuals: Lisa Rietsma is ninth in the nation in solo kills, and Megan Korver is fourteenth in blocks.
Wisconsin will not be an easy opponent, either. The Badgers, ranked fourteenth in the nation overall, are fifth in blocks, and Heather Dodaro is 16th in blocks.
Duke will use its large number of returning starters as well as new players to counter its opponents. Junior co-captain Maureen Reindl, seventh in the nation in digs, will look to lead the team to victory. She and the other juniors and seniors on the team have met Nebraska before, when the Blue Devils dropped two matches to them two years ago. She can expect help from some of those who get their first taste of this rivalry-freshman Sarah Peifer, who led the team in digs against Texas, as well as freshman Dominique Philipp, who had 10 kills in that match.
Though Duke knows that these games will be difficult, it is concentrating more on its own game than on its opponents. The team has yet to view tapes of Nebraska's or Wisconsin's games. The Blue Devils are concentrating especially on defense.
"We're basically working on our side of the net, after Texas," Reindl said.
The Wisconsin and Nebraska matches are the last before the start of Duke's Atlantic Coast Conference season. The Blue Devils will face North Carolina on September 20 at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Reindl commented that the outcome of this weekend's action will have a significant bearing on the team's attitude going into the ACC season.
"Definitely, if we win these matches, we'll have a lot of confidence going into that season," Reindl said. "Even if we don't win, if we just play well, that can really affect our attitude. These are the best teams in the country...the ACC has a different style, more scrappy defenses."
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