It was a weekend of mixed emotions for the volleyball team.
After suffering two close losses , the Blue Devils (15-9, 4-6 in the ACC) are looking ahead to the remainder of the season with high hopes, and looking back on a first half to the season that was filled with closely contested matches and many lessons learned.
"It's a little frustrating to drop two in a row like this, but if we hang in there, we'll do fine in upcoming matches," coach Jolene Nagel said after road losses by her team to Georgia Tech and Clemson.
Duke traveled Saturday to Georgia Tech (19-4, 9-1) as the Yellow Jackets were going for their 10th straight win. Over 1,400 fans were in attendance for the five-game thriller.
After pulling to a 10-10 deadlock in the fifth and final game, the Yellow Jackets were able to stall the Blue Devils' offense and come away with the 15-10 win.
Duke started off the match with an 11-1 lead in the first game and went on to win 15-13. Duke dropped the next game 15-10, but recouped and won the third game 15-6. Georgia Tech recovered its momentum to take the fourth game 15-8 and forced the match to its fifth game.
While Krista Dill continued her stellar performance this season by leading the Blue Devils in the effort with a .467 hitting percentage and 15 kills, the freshman star felt the team needs to work on consistency.
"We were still a little up and down and needed to even it out a little and be more steady," Dill said.
Nagel was pleased with her team's performance against Georgia Tech, which has bounded into a tie with perennial league-topper North Carolina for first place in the ACC this season. Despite the loss, Duke showed a great deal of improvement, especially considering the Yellow Jackets shut out the Blue Devils in Cameron Indoor Stadium earlier in the month.
Duke recorded an impressive 87 digs, 78 kills and notched only four receiving errors as compared to 10 on the previous night. To be certain, Nagel was much happier with the team than she was after Friday evening.
In that match, the Blue Devils faced off against Clemson (9-13, 4-6), a team Duke only narrowly defeated 3-2 on Oct. 3. This time around, the Tigers won the first two games, 15-11 and 15-13. Duke was able to come back to win the next two, 15-12 and 15-8, forcing a decisive fifth game much like in the season's earlier standoff.
As the match came down to the final game, Duke started off with an early 4-0 lead. But Clemson rallied back and held onto its lead to steal the final game 15-13, leaving the Blue Devils with a bitter disappointment.
Nagel felt this was a very winnable match for the team, but that the Tigers were able to take advantage of Duke's blocking woes.
"We didn't play as well as we are capable of," Nagel said. "And we didn't capitalize on opportunities that would have made the difference."
Nagel was content, however, with her team's service, as this has been its focus in recent practices. The Blue Devils led the ACC in service aces and their coach sees this as a key to the future success of her team.
Still, she feels that another key to success for the rest of the season is to make sure her team utilizes its opponents' weaknesses. In addition, it is important for Duke to improve on its passing and take advantage of the opportunities it is given.
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