The volleyball team knew it would have a tough schedule over fall break. But the Blue Devils didn't realize how many falls they would be taking.
Over a disappointing weekend in the Triangle, Duke (15-7, 4-4 in the ACC) was shut out by N.C. State (7-12, 1-6) Friday night before losing to North Carolina (17-4, 7-1) Sunday afternoon, 3-1.
"We just made too many errors that were not our usual errors," coach Jolene Nagel said. "Errors that we don't normally make, we made.... We didn't play this weekend like we were capable of playing and it really hurt us."
The only game Duke won last weekend was its third game against North Carolina. Down 10-0, the Blue Devils managed to come back and win by limiting the Tar Heels to one point in the duration of their 15-point blitz, a perfect illustration of Duke's potential for success.
"We have the ability, we have the skills, [but] we're not always putting them out there on the court at game time right now," Nagel said. "We have to if we want to play up to our capabilities."
The two dropped matches epitomized a loss of momentum the Blue Devils have been suffering from since the beginning of the conference season. Duke engineered a six-match winning streak and suffered only three losses in its non-conference schedule to start the season, even upsetting No. 20 Loyola Marymount in the process.
From that point on, however, the Blue Devils have struggled, managing only a 4-4 record in the ACC. Nagel acknowledged the slump, but also took note of the competitive nature of the ACC as one of the reasons her squad has had trouble.
"In the ACC, you can't afford to not play up to your abilities and be successful," she said. "I don't think we've regressed, but I think we've been a little inconsistent. We've played very well at times. But then we have other moments when we're not passing as well and then other things break down."
Duke's loss to North Carolina seems somewhat understandable, as the Tar Heels have only dropped one match so far in the conference season and have been traditionally at the top of the ACC volleyball standings. But the loss to N.C. State was much more of a letdown, as the Wolfpack not only swept Duke, but gained their first conference win of the season.
After taking the first two games 15-13 and 15-11, N.C. State fell behind in the third 6-3, offering the Blue Devils an opportunity to turn the match around. But 13 errors and only 14 kills left Duke with a final game hitting percentage of .016 and a 15-12 loss to clinch the Wolfpack victory.
"We didn't play well," Nagel said. " We started off a little shaky and then we lost confidence and they gained a lot. We just didn't play our game."
Nagel listed a torrent of areas in which she thought the team could have improved, including passing, versatility and hitting percentage, as well as simply confidence on the court.
While Duke averages a .267 hitting percentage, it could only muster .157 against the Wolfpack and .116 against the Tar Heels. Hitting percentage is determined by subtracting errors from kills and dividing that number by the total number of attacks.
"I think that we made more errors than usual," Nagel said. "That would be my big [culprit]. Carolina was blocking very well-they had 19 blocks. I think that we need to mix it up a little more and weren't able to do that."
Duke likewise faced a similar situation last season when it struggled through the first half of conference competition, dropping matches to both N.C. State and North Carolina. It then went 6-2 in the second half of conference play, a run that included vindicating wins against both Tobacco Road foes.
"Actually, we're doing a lot better than we were last year at this time," Nagel said. "Our record is only 4-4- last year going into the second half it was 3-5. We are such a better team than we were at this point in time a year ago. There have been so many personal improvements and we're playing at a different level."
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