The second season is about to begin for Duke volleyball.
The Blue Devils enter Atlantic Coast Conference play this weekend against in-state rivals North Carolina and N.C. State. After three weeks of competition against the nation's elite, in which Duke finished 2-4, with all four losses coming against teams ranked No. 14 or higher, the Blue Devils are ready to jump into conference play.
"We want to finish in the top two of the conference to create a good seeding for ourselves in the ACC tournament," head coach Linda Grensing said. "We clearly want to control some areas that we can and I think one area is trying to win all of your home matches."
The rough early season action was designed to expose the Blue Devils to the highest caliber competition and prepare them to make a run at the conference title. Those first six games were considered a sort of "first season" for Duke, where it could not worry about wins and losses, but only focus on raising its level of play.
"Any time you play teams that are that good, it really emphasizes areas that you need to get stronger in," Grensing said. "For us, it showed us that we need to increase what is happening with our outside hitters, and then attack more efficiently."
With those lessons in hand, Duke heads into ACC play looking for results.
The Blue Devils open their conference season against the Tar Heels tonight at 7:30 p.m. in Cameron Indoor Stadium. UNC arrives with a 6-4 record, and confidence after sweeping Duke in 1995.
Saturday night, the Wolfpack comes to Durham-game time is 7:30 p.m. N.C. State (9-3) split its season series with the Blue Devils last year and has dropped 14 of the last 15 meetings between the two.
"I don't think they have played as strong a schedule as Duke or UNC, but they are always a team that is very competitive and very scrappy," Grensing said. "You can never underestimate them."
Duke's biggest offensive force so far this season has been freshman outside hitter Sarah Peifer. Her 71 kills lead the team, and her lethal jump serve has registered seven aces. In order for Duke to succeed, it will need continued strong play from her.
"Sarah is the kind of kid who is a good natural athlete and she has the ability to play really solid," Grensing said. "She is not the one to carry the team, but she has a very big role."
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