The Chronicle
It will be a long road for the volleyball team to return to ACC prominence. But the Blue Devils took the first step in that journey Friday night, as they defeated Florida State 3-1 in Cameron Indoor Stadium for their first conference victory of the season.
In the early going of the match, however, it looked as if the Seminoles (5-6, 0-1 in the ACC) were headed for their fourth straight win over Duke (5-5, 1-1), opening a 5-0 lead in game one. But after a quick timeout called by coach Jolene Nagel, things turned around for the Blue Devils.
"When we started the match and I saw those errors we were making, it wasn't the same team from Wednesday night," Nagel said. "It was really important for us to push through and win that first game like we did."
Duke regrouped as it returned to the court and soon erased the five-point deficit. Keeping their errors to a minimum, the Blue Devils took 15 of the final 18 points of the game to earn a 15-8 victory.
Duke kept its momentum going into game two, winning 15-11 to pull within one game of winning. Game 3, however, was a different story from the first two, as FSU capitalized on each Blue Devil error to earn the 15-9 victory and force a fourth game.
"In game three, our passing really broke down, and we started making some errors," Nagel said. "It wasn't one person making the errors; it was one here and one there, and they all add up to put you in trouble."
Much like Duke regained its focus in game one, the Blue Devils saw the light at the end of the tunnel from the opening point of the fourth game. The Seminoles, who were picked to finish fourth in the conference, were unable to mount much of a challenge, as Duke took the game and won the match, 15-8.
"In between games three and four, I just reminded the team what was working for us," Nagel said. "We reminded them how we were scoring early on in the match. We needed to serve tough and make them have trouble with their passes."
Senior Dominique Philipp continued her stellar play Friday, as she led the Blue Devils with 20 kills. More importantly, Philipp only committed one error, resulting in her amazing .543 hitting percentage.
Duke also received excellent play from two freshmen, Jill Sonne and Josie Weymann. Sonne came through with 10 kills, while Weymann contributed 10 digs and four aces to help the Blue Devil cause.
In the end, the difference in the match came down to fundamentals. Duke only committed three return errors, compared to 11 for the Seminoles. The Blue Devils also were more consistent on the attack, recording seven less errors on kills than Florida State.
"It is crucial for us to really control the ball when it is on our side," Nagel said. "I think we were certainly capable of beating this team in three."
The Blue Devils return to action Tuesday night as they host Georgia Tech at 7:30 p.m. in Cameron Indoor Stadium.
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