The volleyball team had not had a good week.
After two disappointing losses to ACC foes Virginia and Wake Forest, Duke (10-12, 4-8 in the ACC) was reeling. But the Blue Devils turned it around Friday night at Tully Gymnasium against Florida State (8-16, 1-10 in the ACC), beating the Seminoles 3-1.
The Blue Devils set a strong tone from the beginning with a 15-3 win in the first game, taking advantage of the Seminoles and their negative hitting percentage of -0.59.
"We were taking advantage of the opportunities they gave us," Duke coach Jolene Nagel said, "maybe a missed play on their part."
But in the second game, Duke stopped taking advantage of Seminole mistakes and began making its own, as the Blue Devils fell 15-7.
"By game two, [the match] was the other way around," Nagel said. "We were not communicating out there, not making the plays we normally make."
The Blue Devils rebounded in the final two games of the match, however. Florida State took the initial lead in both games, but Duke rallied in the end to win them both.
"In game three, we were down, but we finally started to do what we needed to do out there offensively" Nagel said. "We started to pass a little better so that allowed us to be able to offensively do more."
Duke's win is its second against the Seminoles this season, having beaten them 3-1 in September. This time around, Florida State played with a depleted roster, missing three starters. FSU was able to slow down Duke's outside hitters, but its middle hitters filled the void.
"Both our middles hit pretty high," Nagel said. "Ashley Harris, Jami Ediger and Jill Sonne were able to offensively do some things. In our last match against Florida State, it was our outside hitters all the way that were really successful for us. So Florida State did a good job at trying to slow down our offense."
With just a handful of matches left until the end of the season and the ACC tournament, Nagel remains confident in her team's ability and its progress so far.
"We were really disappointed after that Wake Forest loss earlier this week, because the game had been played very well," she said. "Then at Florida State, I don't think we played how we're capable. But I am very, very pleased with the progress I've seen this team make.... I think right now, they need to go out there and play with the focus, the confidence, and the aggressiveness that they're capable of. They're capable of beating just about anyone in the league, if they play that way."
The volleyball team hosts two ACC Tobacco Road foes next weekend at Cameron Indoor Stadium, taking on N.C. State Friday at 7:30 p.m. and then archrival North Carolina Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m.
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