"So close but yet so far away." The phrase can accurately sum up the volleyball team's season thus far. The trend continued this weekend as the Blue Devils played competitively throughout, only to lose to Florida State and Georgia Tech this weekend.
"In those critical situations, we just break down a little bit and make some critical errors," coach Linda Grensing said. "That is the point where we have to have confidence and believe in ourselves."
The Yellow Jackets (18-3, 6-3 in the ACC) downed Duke (7-15, 2-9) yesterday, 3-0, although the match was closer than the score would indicate.
In the first two games of the match, the Blue Devils were tied at seven, only to collapse and lose by scores of 15-8 and 15-7. Duke played Tech to a stalemate for the first part of the games but was unable to hang tough in the end.
The third game of the match was likely the Blue Devils' best of the weekend, but a 16-14 defeat is all they have to show for it. They got out of the gates early and held a 10-7 lead on the Jackets.
After a Tech run to gain a 12-10 advantage, Duke rallied for four points and earned a game point. The Jackets regrouped and denied the Blue Devils the victory by running off four straight points for the win.
The Duke blocking could not compete with the power of Tech's Carla Gartner and Maja Pachale, who pounded the ball on key points late in game three. Duke, rotating Pam Gottfred and Nina Rybak at setter, recorded only 53 assists to its opponent's 71.
"I told our kids that they were not going to beat Tech tipping and rolling," Grensing said. "Tech just put some big hands in front of them and they played very tentatively. That gave Tech easy balls to dig and allowed them to run any offense they wanted."
The match against Florida State (16-7, 6-3) Friday night was merely a preview of what happened yesterday. Duke had chances to win each of the first two games in the match, only to struggle at key points.
The opening game of the match remained tied at 13 for near an eternity, but the Seminoles eventually found a way to score two points for the win. Game two was much the same with Duke rallying from 13-8 to close within 13-12. Once again, FSU managed to earn the final two points of the game for the win.
A disheartened Blue Devil squad appeared in the third game, which led to the 15-4 final. Duke never threatened in this game, which was dominated by the Seminoles' Jennifer Werrick and Aisha Thornton, who led the team with 16 kills apiece for the match.
Despite the losses, junior Sarah Peifer continued her stellar play for the Blue Devils. She recorded a team-high 19 kills in each game and totaled 27 digs over the weekend. Freshman Sarah Stephens also had a solid weekend, contributing 11 blocks to the Duke cause.
Grensing also saw bright spots in Jami Ediger and Dominique Philipp.
"This was one of the best matches Jami has had in a while," she said. "I think Dominique had a good match today, and she is trying to step up into that leadership role."
There is a silver lining for the Blue Devils in the fact that they have played tough in the ACC, despite what their record shows. This could be a factor in the conference tournament at the end of the season, especially as the younger players gain confidence.
Duke's next match is Friday night in Chapel Hill against No. 24 UNC at 7:30.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.