Just when it needed it the most, the volleyball team finally got a win.
The Blue Devils (8-9, 2-5 in the ACC) snapped a four-game ACC losing streak and won their first five-set match of the year with a 3-2 victory over Maryland (9-11, 2-4) Saturday night in Cameron Indoor Stadium.
The match lasted three hours, but when the Blue Devils' front line blocked a Terrapin spike for the game-winning point, it was well worth the wait. Following a devastating weekend a week ago in which Duke fell to two ACC teams and a 3-0 drubbing by Virginia Friday night, a win Saturday was just what the doctor ordered.
"This one was really important for us to believe in what we're doing, to believe in our abilities and to get over our fear of the fifth game," coach Jolene Nagel said. "This was just huge for us. We've been playing well at times, but tonight we finally played well at the points when we had to play well."
The second aspirin for Nagel's headache came yesterday in the form of a 3-0 win over a less-talented Campbell squad, but the game of the week was definitely Saturday.
The Blue Devils won the first game 15-7 and were up 14-13 in the second. But Duke couldn't convert its game point and the Terps rallied to take the game 16-14. The Terrapins jumped out to a 9-2 lead in the third, and although the Blue Devils cut the lead to 12-11, Maryland held on for the win.
But for the first time in this ACC season, Duke responded when it needed to, jumping out to a 7-2 lead. The Terrapins closed the lead to 9-6 but the Blue Devils won the next six points to force a fifth game, something Duke has not had much success with over the past few seasons.
It looked like history was doomed to repeat itself when the Blue Devils fell behind 9-5. But nine points later, Duke was up 13-10, only to see the Terps retake command of the game, holding a 15-14 lead. But the Blue Devils rallied back, winning three straight points on a dink and two blocks.
"The block was really important tonight," Nagel said. "It's been something we've done well for most of the year, but lately it seemed like we weren't touching as many balls as we used to. I do think we were better tonight and we played more steady."
Steady is not the way to describe Friday's game with the Cavaliers. In all three games, Duke fell behind early, launched a mini-comeback but then came up short. In the second game, Duke overcame a 4-0 deficit and held a 14-12 advantage before losing 16-14. In the third game, the Blue Devils fell behind 6-11, closed the deficit to 11-12, but saw Virginia win three straight points to take the match.
"We were not the aggressor," Nagel said. "We played and let them stick it to us instead of us sticking it to them. By the time we finally started to play in games, it was too late."
That was definitely not the case yesterday as Duke jumped out of the gates early and never looked back against the Camels. The Blue Devils won the first game 15-2, but were given a bit of a scare in the second. Duke prevailed and won 15-12 and rolled through Campbell in the final set, 15-1.
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