After a tough season of close matches and clutch wins, the Blue Devils (21-13) lost to the Arizona State Sun Devils (18-11) in the first round of the NCAA tournament Friday night in Minneapolis, Minn.
"I feel like [Duke] played well," coach Jolene Nagel said, in a mix of frustration and exhaustion. "We were so close to being able to getting through that first round. I really feel like we played well. We had our moments when we were really, really good."
This tournament matchup followed some of Duke's most impressive wins of the season. Sentiments were high as the Blue Devils won five of their last six regular season games, and took second place in the ACC tournament after beating conference leader Georgia Tech.
Duke arrived in Minnesota prepared to play a tough match. The Sun Devils had put up a 9-9 record in the very strong Pac-10 conference, and they are known for their ability to make tough digs and defend against strong shots. After spending much of their season working on ball control, the Blue Devils knew they were in for a real test.
The night started off rough for Duke as the first game was marked by continuous Blue Devil sideouts upon which they were unable to capitalize. The 15-3 defeat in the first game, however, was enough to push the team to get fired up and motivated to get itself back in the contest.
"After the first game, we realized that we were better than we had been playing," sophomore Jill Sonne said. "We worked so hard to get to the tournament and we knew we had to give them a better match."
The emotional surge that followed the lopsided first game loss was enough to reverse the first game's momentum and give Duke a 15-12 victory in the second game.
Although the Blue Devils were able to keep the remainder of the games close, they were unable to notch any additional wins.
The third game was the most competitive of the match, as Duke was able to capture a late 14-13 lead. Arizona State took three straight points to secure itself a 2-1 lead in the match.
Duke played tough the fourth game, but the Sun Devils were able to hold on and take the game 15-12.
This was a very disappointing end to the Blue Devils' season, mostly because the team thought this match was well within its reach.
"Our team should have played better," junior Ashley Harris said. "We had many opportunities which we could have capitalized on and didn't. This win was well within our grasp."
Harris dominated on Duke's side of the ball as she slated an impressive 21 kills and 16 digs.
Perhaps the most impressive statistic of the night, however, was recorded by Arizona State junior Jami Coughlin, who tallied 19 kills to put her over the top of the formidable 1,000-kill mark.
Duke's stoppage of Amanda Burbidge was in itself quite a victory.
"Their big player, a big player all year, Amanda Burbidge-we stopped [her]," Nagel said. "She didn't do much at all. She hit a .017. And she's an All-Pac-10 player, and all this and all that. She wasn't able to be very productive against us at all.
"But there were others that were able to be more productive, but it was nice to be able to stop her."
Nagel was as disappointed as her players, as she too saw the match as winnable.
"We missed some opportunities tonight," Nagel said. "We could have won this match if we had played a little more consistent."
The final game of the season can often overly affect postseason sentiment. Despite the tough loss, the team focused on the youth of its team and next year's prospects.
Harris, for one, played a crucial leadership role this season.
"I think it will be easier to be a good leader next season, with a year as leader under my belt," Harris said. "I will still work hard and push the team, and I will have several other seniors helping me out. We have a close team and that helps. Next year we are going to do the same things we did well this year, but hopefully step it up a little".
Sonne feels that this season's play will only encourage the team for next year.
"I think we definitely improved throughout the season. We played some good matches against some good teams and we showed ourselves what we are capable of," Sonne said. "We have higher goals for next year, because of how well we played at the end of this year. This season will help push individual and team play for next year."
Senior Nina Rybak will be the only player graduating this year, and the remainder of the squad will have several months to work with Nagel to improve team chemistry and skill.
"I'm really proud of this team and the year they had," Nagel said. "We feel like we came together as a team this year and made strides that should carry over into next year."
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