Last night, in its ACC opener, the Duke volleyball team (9-4, 0-1 in the ACC) participated in a game that was influenced by several psychological forces from the very beginning.
The Blue Devils entered their match against Virginia (5-6, 1-0) coming off their first loss in eight games, having fallen to Indiana Saturday in preseason play. In addition to running on this emotional fuel, revenge was in the air, as most of the Duke team vividly recalled its three glaring losses to the Cavaliers last season. For Virginia, this matchup would be key to setting the tone for the regular season, as it worked to overcome the four-game losing streak that marked its end to preseason play.
Last night, however, the positive emotional charge was not enough to overcome the disadvantage of playing on the road, anxiety of a relatively young team starting regular season play and the lack of chemistry and consistency on the court.
Intensity was extremely high as each team hoped to start off conference play with a win, and Duke tried to overcome its inability to beat the Cavaliers last season. The match came down to who could hold on the longest in the fifth and final game.
"We needed to be more aggressive and to take advantage of our opportunities," coach Jolene Nagel said. "We took too long to start playing our game tonight."
Nagel was also disappointed that her team was unable to serve well enough to force errors.
After winning the first game by a sizeable margin, the tides turned and the Blue Devils fell 15-7 in the second. Duke then fell just short in the third game in a close 15-13 loss but regained the momentum with a victory in the fourth game.
With the score tied 11-11 in the final game, the match seemed to be up for grabs. After falling behind 12-13, the Blue Devils were able to regroup and tie the score again. This slight comeback turned out to fall short of what was needed for the win, though, as the Cavaliers triumphed 15-13 to claim their opening ACC match.
Several Blue Devils stepped up, but it was simply not enough to overcome the Virginia effort. After two consecutive weeks as ACC freshman of the week, middle blocker Krista Dill had another impressive match with a .441 hitting percentage. She also recorded 17 kills and three block assists.
Sophomore Jill Sonne stood out as well, serving consistently and recording 24 digs, 20 kills, two block assists, and a .269 hitting percentage. Junior Bryn Gallagher contributed solidly with 20 kills and 15 digs.
Duke was unable to stop the devastating offensive skills of Virginia's 6-foot-1 Deanna Zwarich, and her two block solos and three block assists helped prevent Duke's offense from taking charge during last night's match.
Nagel attributes this to an overall lack of aggressiveness and the uneasiness associated with the start of ACC play. These factors, along with its inability to serve effectively, prevented Duke from avenging from last year's losses.
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