Charles Dickens could easily have been referring to the Duke volleyball team when he wrote, "It was the best of times. It was the worst of times." The Blue Devils continued their rendition of a Tale of Two Teams this weekend. After easily defeating defending Atlantic Coast Conference champions Maryland on Friday night 3-0, Duke (6-6, 1-1 in the ACC) dropped its match on Sunday to Virginia by the same score.
The Blue Devils jumped out of the gates early Friday against the Terrapins (5-5, 0-1), taking the opening game of the match 15-5. Maryland bounced back in game two by gaining a 12-6 lead. Instead of folding after the slow start, Duke rallied to score the next nine points of the game and pull out a 15-12 victory.
Once the Blue Devils had gained momentum, they did not even leave the door cracked for the Terrapins, as they routed the ACC foe 15-2 in the final game.
"We did a good job executing what we had talked about from the scouting reports," coach Linda Grensing said. "We scored points when we had the opportunity. I would say we earned more points, versus the points we gave up to them, which was a key."
The story of the match, though, was junior Sarah Peifer. She led the way for Duke notching 17 kills and 16 digs, as well as tossing in two aces and two assists just for fun. Peifer hit at an amazing .552 clip for the match.
Grensing chose to go with her six starters
"I definitely feel most comfortable setting," Gottfred said. "That's where I've played for three years. I had been only a defense specialist, but I've never played that before, so it was pretty difficult."
While the Blue Devils looked quite impressive Friday night, the same could not be said of their performance Sunday versus the Cavaliers (12-2, 1-1 in ACC). Claire Folga led a balanced attack for Virginia, which had four players record double figures in kills.
The Blue Devils seemed in control of the match at the outset and took an 11-7 lead on the Wahoos. At that point, three consecutive Duke errors allowed Virginia to gain momentum and go on to win game one, 15-13.
"We just made some consecutive errors, like getting blocked, hitting out, bad passes," Grensing said. "All together, I think that was where the momentum shifted."
The Blue Devils never threatened in the second game, as Virginia cruised to a 15-7 victory. The third game appeared to be the same as the last, with the Cavs holding a 13-8 advantage late in the game.
Duke rallied to score the next six points and a 14-13 lead. It was unable to convert its only game point, though, giving Virginia another opportunity to close the door. The Cavs did not let this chance slip away, scoring the final three points for a 16-14 victory.
"Virginia did a great job serving, and we didn't always necessarily handle the ball well," Grensing said.
Mental errors plagued the Blue Devils all afternoon. They gave the Wahoos many easy points due to bad passes and net violations, among other things.
"Our hearts didn't really seem to be in it today," Gottfred said. "Everyone just looked like they had blank stares on their faces."
Despite the loss, Gottfred recorded impressive numbers in her second consecutive start at setter. She dished out a career-high 58 assists and led the team with 14 digs. Junior Jami Ediger also contributed 18 kills and 10 digs to the Duke effort.
The main problem for the Blue Devils seems to be their lack of consistency. The team that destroyed Maryland looked almost nothing like the one that stepped on the court against Virginia.
"Consistency falls into a number of categories: one is your effort level, two is your physical skills in areas that you need to improve and the last part is the psychological part of the game," Grensing said.
"We've been a little bit rocky-up and down-even in today's game our hitting was high then low. You are not going to beat teams with that kind of inconsistency."
Duke returns to action Tuesday night against Wake Forest in Winston-Salem at 7:30 p.m.
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