Of the volleyball team's seven matches this season, four have come against ranked opponents. While there is no need for panic, all four of these matches have ended in defeat, three of them in straight sets.
This weekend at the Furama Hotel/Loyola-Marymount University Volleyball Classic in Los Angeles, Duke (3-4) was handed two 3-0 losses from 15th-ranked Loyola-Marymount and 9th-ranked Cal-Santa Barbara. In their final match, the Blue Devils defeated UMass 3-0.
"We come into games [versus ranked opponents] with specific goals," coach Linda Grensing said. "We know we're playing very tough teams. We're more concerned about specific things like hitting percentage and number of errors. That's what we have to look at, not wins and losses. These types of games will help us be more competitive in the Atlantic Coast Conference."
Duke opened up the tournament Friday night against LMU. The Lions dominated the match, easily winning 15-4, 15-4, 15-12. LMU was led to victory by Sarah Noriega's 20 kills and 11 digs, but many of the Blue Devils' wounds were self-inflicted. Throughout the match Duke committed 14 service errors and 18 attacking errors. The Blue Devils tallied only 39 kills, 1 block, and a dismal hitting percentage of only .200.
"We didn't compete at all in that match," Grensing said. "I think in the third game we started to compete, but by that point it was too late to make a dent overall. We didn't do a good job of taking care of business."
Saturday was a much more productive day for Duke. Although their morning game against Cal-Santa Barbara resulted in a loss, the Blue Devils' play was much improved. Senior Jenny Stadler led the way, recording 14 kills and 10 digs, while committing only one error. Junior Megan Irvine contributed with 12 kills and two blocks, and senior setter Kristen Campbell had 41 assists. In the end, the Gauchos were too strong-five different players had nine or more kills-and won the match 15-12, 15-4, 15-13.
"I think we did a great job in being competitive," Grensing said. "I think we played really well. They're a great team-ranked 9th in the country-and we did a good job being competitive. We didn't make many mistakes or errors and stayed competitive through the whole match."
Perhaps the real victory of the match was the play of 1996 ACC Rookie-of-the Year Sarah Peifer. Peifer, nagged by a shoulder injury all season, had her best match to date this year. She recorded 10 kills and 13 digs, but only hit .182. Solid play continued for Peifer versus UMass, improving her hitting percentage to .303 and racking up 13 kills and eight digs.
"I think Sarah Peifer came into her own this weekend," Grensing said. "She played very well. I think she's getting [back to her old self]."
In the final match of the weekend, Duke was able to take out some of its frustration on the weaker Minutemen. The Blue Devils won in three games, 15-13, 15-4, 15-12. In all three games UMass pounded out more kills, but the Minutemen committed 21 errors and seven service errors. Along with Peifer, Duke was once again led by Irvine and Stadler who combined for 20 kills and five blocks. Sophomore Dominique Philipp added 10 kills, two digs, and 2.5 blocks.
"I think we did a great job," Grensing said. "We were very steady in our performance. We did not allow them to go on runs. When they did get the serve we shut them down and got the ball back."
When the Blue Devils crafted this season's schedule, they were not necessarily hoping for wins, but instead believed the experience against top-notch opponents would translate into an ACC title and a birth into the NCAA Tournament. Whether this strategy is successful remains to be seen, but Duke will get another helping of experience against top rated foes when it faces defending NCAA champion Stanford Wednesday night.
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