Despite the numerous regular season accolades the Duke volleyball team (22-4, 14-4 in the ACC) received, none of its previous accomplishments translated into even an ACC tournament final appearance this weekend. The Blue Devils lost to the host and fourth-seeded Florida State Seminoles (17-11, 12-6) in Tallahassee to end their bid for an ACC tournament championship.
"Florida State played really well," Duke coach Jolene Nagel said. "We didn't play badly, but if we could've capitalized on some opportunities, it would've made our match a little bit easier. It might have helped us get over the hump in game one and maybe win game four.
"We've had a tremendous season. We had a lot of accomplishments. It's disappointing that we didn't come out with a win today, but Florida State is playing really well."
Led by a fearsome frontline of Nirisha Campell, Erica Bunch and Alex Sevillano who crushed 54 of the team's 66 kills, Florida State physically dominated its opponents en route to a 32-30, 30-21, 13-30, 30-20 victory.
"That first game was really important and we didn't play badly. I definitely think it carried over to the second game. I think that first game was a tell-tailing sign of what was to come in regards to the mental part of the game for both teams."
Given the proficiency of the Seminoles' hitters, Duke's defense was hard-pressed to even come up with a dig on many plays. The key to Florida State's success against the talented Blue Devils was keeping momentum on its side for the majority of the match. After falling behind 12-8 in the fourth and final game, Florida State went on an 11-2 run to put Duke down for good.
The Seminoles' whopping .513 hitting percentage in the first two games left Duke baffled and scrambling for answers even Nagel could not produce.
"We had some opportunities and didn't take advantage of them," Nagel said. "We made too many errors.
"The tournament setting is a whole new animal, being the number one seed and having pressure on you."
The Blue Devils' troubles this weekend began in Friday afternoon's match where they looked anything but impressive. Duke beat the eighth-seeded Virginia Cavaliers in four games, but looked sluggish in its performance.
While winning the first two games 30-21 and 30-26, Duke looked like it was a bit tentative but still hitting well. During the first frame. the Blue Devils were playing evenly with their under-manned competition, and used an 8-0 run to finally pull ahead of the Cavaliers. The second game saw Duke build an 11-6 lead, but Virginia rallied to go on a 10-4 run and take an eventual 25-23 lead before surrendering the game.
"We didn't play our best today, but we're glad we were able to win," Nagel said Friday. "Virginia played very well and took us out of our game by being very aggressive. I thought we became more tentative as they got back into the game."
The Blue Devils went on to lose the third game 30-25 and finally finish off the Cavaliers 30-28 in the fourth game. Senior Ashley Harris, who led Duke with 18 kills, knew her squad did not play up to par.
"We played passively," Harris said. "We didn't attack well when we started to get down, which is really uncharacteristic of our team. When we started attacking them, things began to fall in our favor."
Although the Blue Devils must wait until Nov. 27 to see if they have earned a berth in the NCAA tournament, Nagel said she is optimistic that her squad is capable of achieving a successful outcome to this season.
"I think the team feels like they gave their best effort. You always perform better on some days than others but at the same time. they played well. I'm very proud of the way they played and conducted themselves. Hopefully we get a chance to be in the NCAA tournament and our season is not over yet."
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