The Duke volleyball season, which ended with a 15-16 record, was quite similar to a mountain. Yes, another "peaks and valleys" sports analogy will be used. But this is quite an accurate way to describe the season. There was one very high peak that was surrounded by two deep valleys.
"We had a really tough beginning to the season playing top-rated teams," sophomore Jami Ediger said. "I thought we were playing really well throughout the middle of the season in the Atlantic Coast Conference, and then the last couple of weekends were just really bad for us."
The Blue Devils started the season in difficult fashion. Four of their first six matches were played against ranked opponents. This was no "cupcake city," as Dick Vitale might say. Duke's first valley was in large part due to the tough early schedule.
Instead of entering the ranks of the elite in volleyball, Duke started out with a 4-8 record. Five of those eight losses were against teams from the top two volleyball conferences in the nation-the Big 10 and PAC-10. Despite the losses, the Blue Devils gained some valuable experience playing against top-flight competition.
"It was important to play some top-ranked teams and getting used to that," Duke coach Linda Grensing said. "I think we learned a lot of valuable lessons competing against those top teams in terms of playing at that level."
The Blue Devils struggled early in the ACC, losing three out of their first five conference matches. Then the streak began.
They rose to the peak of the mountain winning nine out of their next 10 matches, with the only loss coming to ranked Maryland in five games.
The Blue Devils looked quite impressive during this run, dismantling teams in three straight games. These victories were not due to one player stepping up but the whole team playing well together. They did many of the "little things" very well such as passing, communicating, and steering clear of unforced errors.
It is fitting that at the peak of this mountain would be a monument reading: Duke wins its sixth match in a row by defeating North Carolina three games to one, including a 15-0 shutout.
"When we won six games in a row ending with the Carolina game, that was definitely a high point," Ediger said. "Everybody was fired up to be playing and playing well."
The second valley on the other side of the mountain was much deeper than the previous one. Going into the final weekend, the Blue Devils had the opportunity to extend their streak and wrap up second place in the ACC. Three wins also meant an almost certain berth in the NCAA tournament.
Instead, the Blue Devils appeared flat the entire weekend and lost all three matches. The losses were not pretty either. Clemson overpowered Duke; Georgia Tech, a team it had beaten twice already, destroyed the Blue Devils; and Florida State, a team they had previously owned, beat them in five games.
While the Blue Devils could have faced an overmatched Virginia squad in the first round of the ACC tournament, the losses dropped them to fifth and sealed a date with Clemson. Although it played with more emotion than the previous weekend, Duke lost to the Tigers, the eventual champions.
These last two weekends were more painful for Duke than the first few weekends since the losses came against conference opponents. Losing early season games to top ranked opponents can be counted as a "learning experience," but losing three matches in the final regular-season weekend likely cost Duke a chance at postseason play.
"Coming out of that last three-match weekend without any wins was definitely the low point," Ediger said. "We had been on such a high, and it's just hard to bounce back after that."
Just as the Blue Devils did many of the little things well during the streak, they did none of the little things right in the end. The passing was not great; there was a lack of communication; and the players were often slow reacting to blocks and spikes by the opponent.
Another bane of Duke was five-game matches. It lost all six it was involved in. In many of the matches, the Blue Devils led 2-1 going into the fourth game, only to have the opponent rally to win.
On a positive note, the Blue Devil seniors had a strong season. Kristen Campbell leaves as Duke's all-time leader in assists with over 5,000. Maureen Reindl, who never believed a point to be over until the ball hit the floor, was a solid force throughout the season. Jenny Stadler, Jill Van Oort, and Sarah Corder provided Duke with quality minutes off the bench, especially down the stretch.
"[The seniors] have been an important part of taking the program to the next level," Grensing said. "They have certainly been here as the core in my time at Duke. They've done a good job of teaching players what we do at this program and how hard we work."
Duke will return Megan Irvine and its trio of "super sophomores" Ediger, Dominique Philipp, and All-ACC first team selection Sarah Peifer. Peifer will look next year to repeat her performance from this season.
"I would say that the way we finished the season was disappointing, but not the season itself," Grensing said. "Next year we have a mix. We have a core of players that have been on the court a lot and a lot of new players coming in. I think it will be an exciting team to watch."
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