The floor of Cameron glows with a vigorous shine after every volleyball game, thanks to the players who towel it off after every fall. Last night, without injured senior captain Megan Irvine, the volleyball team polished the floor of Cameron to a mirror shine, unable to return the stellar Clemson blocks that dominated the match.
The Blue Devils, hoping to salvage a disastrous ACC season, matched Clemson's (14-6, 6-3 ACC) intensity. But without the steadying influence of Irvine, they tumbled to a 15-8, 15-9,10-15, 15-10 loss.
The high point of the match for Duke (7-13, 2-9) was the Blue Devils' domination in the third game, when Duke rolled over the Tigers 15-10. Until that game, Duke did not look sharp and could not seem to put together the streaks of brilliant offense that characterized the match on both sides of the net.
During the third game, the only Blue Devil win of the night, Duke registered a hitting percentage of .429, twice as good as any other game. Overall, junior Sarah Peifer led the Blue Devils with 21 kills and sophomore Nyna Rybak ignited the Duke offense with 16 digs.
"Without Megan Irvine," coach Linda Grensing said, "I don't think all of them were ready. But in the third game they did a good job of beating Clemson."
In the other games of the match, the streaky Blue Devils matched the Tigers well but were unable to deflect the onslaught of well-timed kills and monster blocks. Clemson junior Cindy Stern equaled Peifer's performance with her own 21 kills, and Tiger outside hitter Skye Frost recorded a match-high 22 digs.
The Blue Devils matched up well with Clemson, but were unable to finish off the Tigers, constantly executing aggressive plays to gain serve, but then serving the ball into the net.
"Volleyball is a game where it's pretty even [between mental and physical preparation]," Grensing said. "I don't question them mentally; I don't question them physically. I just question their desire to fight and to put it all together."
Although a sustained winning streak has eluded Duke all season, the streaks of losses do not tell the story of the Blue Devils' hard-fought battles that were earmarked by aggressive play that was not reflected on the scoreboard.
"I look forward to seeing how they respond [in the next match]," Grensing said. "I think they will shock everybody."
The Blue Devils will take on Wake Forest on Friday at 7:30 p.m. and Georgia Tech on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. Both matches will be played at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.