The volleyball team traveled down to Tallahassee this weekend and took care of business.
Facing an overmatched Florida State squad, the Blue Devils rallied from an 8-1 deficit in game one to sweep the Seminoles 15-9, 15-10, 15-10.
Duke (6-6 overall, 3-1 in the Atlantic Coast Conference), stumbled out of the gate-perhaps still suffering some ill effects from last weekend's loss to Houston. The memory of that same match, in which Duke dropped game two 15-1, is what helped wake up the Blue Devils.
"Recognizing [the severity of the situation] was important, because against Houston we didn't recognize it right away," junior setter Kristen Campbell said. "The feeling against Houston was awful, so none of us wanted to lose like that again."
Sophomore Megan Irvine led the Duke attack, registering 13 kills. She was not alone, however, as four other Blue Devils tallied at least seven kills.
"Our ball handling was pretty good and we didn't have just one big player, which I thing was great," Campbell said.
Duke's usual finishing tandem of freshman Sarah Peifer and junior Maureen Reindl finished with 11 and 10 kills respectively and senior Liz Neuhaus added seven of her own. Even Campbell got into the act with seven kills, predominately on quick dumps over the net.
"When we pass the ball well, is easy for her to just put it down, and their blocks didn't adjust very well," Reindl said.
Latoya Presberry led FSU (3-12, 0-5 in the ACC) with a game-high 17 kills.
The Blue Devils' Friday night trip to Tully Gymnasium was also significant in terms of conference standings.
"This win was important for us in terms of achieving our goal of finishing in the top two in the ACC," Reindl said. "Right now, we don't have many road games, so every one is important."
Heading into the match, coach Linda Grensing guided her team through a tough week of practice to ensure that the Blue Devils would be more than prepared. At first it appeared as though the lessons had been wasted, but once the players became aware of the situation, they took control of the game.
"We started off really slow in the first game... I guess we just weren't ready to jump out at the beginning, but then we came back strong," Reindl said. "The fact that we won in three games was important for us because it showed that we didn't let up for a full game."
As the Blue Devils head into the heart of their conference schedule, this win also does a lot in terms of confidence and establishing an attitude of winning.
"It was a good win after a tough week of practice and it is a good way to go into this next weekend," Campbell said.
Duke returns home this coming weekend for matches against Maryland and Virginia. Both the Terrapins and Cavaliers should provide the Blue Devils with a more significant challenge-both boast a larger and more athletic squad than Florida State.
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