Amidst a crowd of taunting North Carolina fans chanting "Let's go Tar Heels" and "Duke sucks," the Blue Devils (14-6, 2-3 in the ACC) lost 3-1 (30-22, 20-30, 30-23, 30-28) to the No. 11 Tar Heels (16-1, 4-0 in the ACC) Thursday night at Carmichael Auditorium in Chapel Hill.
It was not UNC's overwhelming play or Duke's lack of tenacity, but a series of unforced errors that led to the defeat.
"UNC is not anything that special," senior defensive specialist Josie Weymann said. "We just made too many errors."
The underdog Blue Devils played a competitive four games, exchanging blocks, kills and digs with the Tar Heels throughout. The aggressive net play of senior outside hitter Malaika Underwood and senior middle hitter Holly Strauss for UNC was more than compensated for on Duke's side by Katie Gillman's hustle and Jill Sonne's convincing kills, including the 1000th of her career.
"To be honest, I didn't even know I got it," Sonne said. "I really feel like I have contributed to the Duke volleyball program."
Sonne, who on the fourth point of the final game was able to recover after a quick put-back by UNC with a bump from her knees, helped keep the fourth and final game extremely close. After ties at 24 and 28, the game ended when UNC scored the final two points of the match.
After saying that the team needed to work on its blocking and overall defense following last week's victory against Maryland, Duke head coach Jolene Nagel felt the team improved in both areas.
"We got better, but still have a lot more to work on," Nagel said. "We need to eliminate those easy mistakes. If we can do that, we will be a much better team."
The spirited Blue Devils were beset by poor blocking and mid-range hitting in the first game. The Tar Heels came out aggressively, never surrendering the lead. Duke brought the score within four at 9-13, but could not contain Underwood's blistering attacks.
Nagel called two quick timeouts in an attempt to rally the team and in hopes of salvaging the game. Yet Duke failed to answer while the Tar Heels responded with five consecutive points.
Junior outside hitter Katie Gillman displayed hustle and determination, diving all over the court in pursuit of the ball. She led the team with 15 kills and added 14 digs for a double-double.
"We didn't make any errors in the second game, and that is why we won," Weymann said.
Although Duke emerged victorious from game two, the Tar Heels responded to their coach's timeout outburst in the previous game by winning the final two.
"I'm only going to say one thing," UNC head coach Joe Sagula screamed to his team. "This is Duke, and you're at home."
Duke turns around quickly and faces N.C. State tonight at 7:00 p.m.
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