The volleyball team continued to rack up Atlantic Coast Conference wins as it defeated Florida State 3-1 Sunday afternoon.
With the home crowd at Cameron Indoor Stadium rallying behind them, the Blue Devils came back from a 10-6 deficit in the fourth game to capture the match. Duke grabbed the momentum by scoring five unanswered points to take an 11-10 lead. After the Seminoles tied the game at 11-11, the Blue Devils won the last four points in decisive fashion, with a Megan Irvine block sealing the 15-11 victory.
"I'm pleased [with] the last four points of game four," Duke coach Linda Grensing said. "To me, that was a huge step. [The team was] very determined to win, which is what's critical for us. It's very important for us and that was one of the things you want to see a lot of."
The Blue Devils, who raised their record to 11-9, 8-4 in the ACC, overcame a sluggish start to earn the victory. They appeared disorganized at times in the first game, falling behind 9-3 and 13-6, which prompted Grensing to call two early timeouts. After the second timeout Duke rallied for seven straight points to the tie the game at 13, capped by a soft Liz Neuhaus tap which fooled the Seminoles. But FSU went back ahead by one; and though the Blue Devils were able to fight off one game point, the Seminoles put it away on their second try, 15-13.
"I think we started out pretty laid back," Grensing said, "And we didn't jump out on Florida State, which my philosophy is you get out on a team early."
Duke swept FSU (10-15, 6-8 in the ACC) in the team's match earlier in the season, which Grensing said could have caused the Blue Devils to be a little overconfident Sunday.
"We hadn't lost a game to them," freshman outside hitter Sarah Peifer said. "So it was kind of a little scary to fall behind them in the first game. It was great that we picked it up."
Duke seemed to carry the momentum into the second game, gaining a 14-10 advantage and a game point. But it couldn't put FSU away on the first game point, and the Seminoles pulled within one at 14-13. Finally, a Sarah Peifer kill got the Blue Devils a side out, and they were able to take the game, 15-13, when FSU was called for interference.
In the third game, Duke jumped ahead 6-0 and never looked back. Already leading 11-5, the Blue Devils captured four straight points to win the game, the last two coming off Peifer aces.
Peifer led Duke with 24 kills and 27 digs. She was relegated to back-row duty during Thursday night's game at Wake Forest with a shoulder problem, but said the injury wouldn't hinder her for the rest of the season, as the Blue Devils battle for position in the tightly-contested ACC race. Peifer added that for her team to achieve its goals it would have to improve on Sunday's effort.
"It's good that our team can win when we're not playing well at all," she said. "But we have to play in games like we do in practice. We work hard in practice, we just have to carry it over to the games."
Grensing was also concerned with some aspects of Duke's play against the Seminoles.
"Each person on our team is so critical in terms the role they have, and I felt they weren't taking care individually of our roles, and those roles all put together are what make us a solid team," she said.
Still, Grensing was pleased that the Blue Devils, who will travel to UNC Tuesday night to try to avenge a heart-breaking five-set loss earlier in the season, were able to come through with a victory Sunday despite the difficulties.
"The bottom line is they won," she said, "And that's a growth step they've taken as a team this fall."
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