RALEIGH - The women's volleyball team wants to go out with a bang. That message was made loud and clear Tuesday night.
Duke went on the road and defeated conference rival North Carolina State in four hard-fought, see-saw games, 10-15, 15-8, 15-13, 15-12. With the victory, the Blue Devils (13-10 overall, 9-5 in the Atlantic Coast Conference) moved into a tie for second place in the ACC with Georgia Tech, their opponent in Atlanta on Friday night. Duke has won its last two matches in four games each, outscoring its opponents 100-80.
Tuesday's effort was led by junior outside hitter Maureen Reindl, who had a team high 19 kills and a game high 32 digs. Senior middle blocker Liz Neuhaus helped out the strong all-around effort with 17 kills and 11 digs of her own on the evening.
The importance of this game for Duke cannot be underestimated. The Blue Devils are in the fight of their lives near the top of the ACC, and every conference game is critical. Not only must Duke contend with the Yellow Jackets, but it only has a slim one game lead over North Carolina and Clemson. The Blue Devils have to conclude their regular season on the road at Clemson on Saturday.
The win against the Wolfpack may provide the Blue Devils with the momentum and confidence they will need to win their remaining two games.
"A lot of good team things happened on the court," coach Linda Grensing said. "We showed ourselves some things tonight."
With the win, Duke showed itself that it can handle adversity, and can stay in a match even when it was struggling against a tough opponent. State got off to an early jump in the first game and ended up winning it 15-10. The Wolfpack hit the ball well, and the Blue Devils never seemed to be in synch throughout this game.
"In the first game we started out a little too relaxed, and a little too slow," Grensing said. "We weren't playing aggressive enough to come up with points and sides outs."
Duke remained focused and was able to win the remaining three games of the match, despite aggressive playing by State. The Blue Devils' patience shined through, especially in the final two games. Each game was closely fought and went back and forth from start to finish.
The fourth game, especially, remained low scoring for a long time as each team matched each other side-out after side-out. Eventually, Duke was able to pull away and take a 10-5 lead.
However, the Wolfpack came back strong, refusing to give up. State grabbed the momentum of the game and scored several unanswered points to narrow Duke's margin. During this period, it seemed as if anything the Blue Devils hit would be retrieved by the gritty Wolfpack. The game was uncertain until the very end, when the Blue Devils finally arose victorious 15-12.
"We were very patient in our system," Grensing said. "We were very disciplined in our system. [Our ability to remain focused] was a sign of a very experienced team."
The Blue Devils also proved Tuesday night that they have a deep bench, and a wide array of talent. Because the games were all very close and went through several rotations, Duke used most of its bench by the time the four set match was finished. Sophomore setter Kristen Campbell was able to set to many different players throughout the evening, four of whom had more than 14 kills each.
"We were able to take out the strengths of each player and incorporate them into the match," Grensing said.
The strength of the bench proved indispensable in replacing freshman Sarah Peifer. Peifer, the team leader in kills, saw less action due to a shoulder injury she suffered against North Carolina last week. The combination of freshman Dominique Phillip and junior Jill Van Oort did an admirable job as Peifer's replacements. Phillip made a strong contribution with 14 kills, and Van Oort had five kills along with four blocks.
Duke hopes to continue building on Tuesday's postives-receiving solid production from its deep bench and remaining focused during tough times-in its final two regular season games and into the postseason.
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