The volleyball team, with its string of successes in two previous early-season tournaments, has one more opportunity to improve its record before the ACC season begins. This weekend the Blue Devils head to Athens, Ga. for the Outback Invitational-down to just four more matches before they begin the conference season next week.
While much of the opposition that Duke has faced thus far in the season is not at the competitive level of the ACC, the Blue Devils (4-2) have faced some challenges, including UNLV and Nevada.
"[Tournament play] is good preparation for us, but it won't be tougher than the ACC games," sophomore Nina Rybak said.
Duke will meet 1997 NCAA Tournament participants Villanova, Oral Roberts and Georgia this weekend. Coach Linda Grensing said that while this level of competition in the preseason is important, the court experience gained by just participating in the tournaments is equally valuable.
"All of [our games] are helping us get better as we go into the ACC season," Grensing said. "We've played decent teams. Nevada, for example, is much like a Wake Forest or even a North Carolina or Georgia Tech."
While the tournaments give the Blue Devils an idea of the level of upcoming competition, this time is also important for cohesion, especially since half of the team is made up of freshmen.
"We're using the court time to learn how to grow together," Grensing said. "It's a great experience [for everyone]. It allows us to work on the court as a team."
Though all three opponents did make last year's NCAAs, they enter the Invitational on a bit of a down note. Georgia has lost five of its first six matches to open the season, while Villanova (4-4) has lost its last three matches.
Oral Roberts is also 4-4 after dropping a 3-0 decision to No. 5 UC-Santa Barbara this past week. But all three teams represent a step up in competition from last week's Duke Classic, where the Blue Devils went 2-1.
"We're meeting more challenging teams as we progress through the season," said Rybak. "In the past weekends, it's been building up with what we'll be seeing in the regular season. I know there are ACC teams in the top 20. We haven't seen any top-20 teams yet, but Georgia is right up there."
The Blue Devils face Villanova today at 4:30 and Oral Roberts and Georgia on Saturday at 11 a.m. and 7 p.m., respectively.
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