Four days, three matches and one golden opportunity to make a run in the Atlantic Coast Conference standings.
The volleyball team, the preseason favorite to win the ACC, currently stands in fifth place, with a 2-2 conference record. But with ACC matches planned for Saturday, Sunday and Tuesday, the Blue Devils (6-10 overall) could either jump back in the hunt for the regular-season title or find themselves out of the race less than halfway through the conference schedule.
"Our goal is still to finish on stop of the ACC," said Duke coach Linda Grensing. "If we can continue to win from here on out, it's a very attainable goal. I think the ACC this year is going to be a slugfest, with lots of teams upsetting each other."
The Blue Devils will first travel to College Park, where they'll face a Maryland team which is undefeated and ranked 18th in the country. The Terrapins (12-0, 3-0 in the ACC) play Wake Forest today before hosting Duke on Saturday at 5 p.m.
Maryland is led by setter Eden Kroeger, who in September became the school's all-time assist leader. While the Blue Devils are 0-6 against ranked opponents this season, they have played more matches overall, and more against top non-conference teams, than most of their ACC rivals.
"We've played a lot of top-20 teams-even closer to top-15 or top-10, really," Grensing said. "One thing that's important for our kids to realize is that when they beat a team like Maryland, it's confirming to us that we are a good team. We now understand what it takes to be a part of the top 20."
Less than 24 hours later, Duke will be in Charlottesville taking on Virginia (12-7, 1-2), at 4 p.m. Sunday. In home matches against Florida State today and the Demon Deacons tomorrow, captain Amy Mitchell will have the chance to become the fourth Cavalier to reach 1000 kills for her career. Mitchell enters the weekend 35 kills shy of the milestone.
"Virginia is a very competitive team," Grensing said. "It's always a brawl...and it's always tough to face them in their gym."
While Wake Forest (8-10, 1-3), which Duke hosts at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, would seem to be the easiest of their three opponents, the Blue Devils can't afford to let up on concentration. The Demon Deacons, who didn't have a volleyball team from 1987-1995, won their first ACC match in 25 tries last Friday, when they downed N.C. State, 3-2.
Wake Forest, not surprisingly, features a young team, with only two juniors and one senior. Outside hitter Katie Horne leads the Demon Deacons with 264 kills, while fellow outside hitter Amber Grahn is tops with 511 assists. Wake Forest, like Duke, will be coming off weekend matches with Maryland and Virginia.
"Wake is obviously still building their program, so we'll get to see how much they've improved," Grensing said. "More than anything, we've got to come out and focus on where we are in the match we're playing in. We've done a good job of separating [one match from another] this year."
The Blue Devils split two ACC matches over the weekend, losing a 3-2 heartbreaker to North Carolina, then knocking off N.C. State, 3-0. Sophomore outside hitter Sarah Peifer, the 1996 ACC Rookie of the Year, has recently returned to her freshman form, after undergoing double shoulder surgery in the off-season. Peifer leads Duke in kills, digs and service aces.
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