Blue Devil and Tar Heel roundball teams face off in traditional fashion in Cameron Indoor Stadium Friday, with one team hoping to climb higher in the national ranking and the other hoping to avenge an early-season loss. But the only surprise is that "nothing but net" will be considered a bad thing in this contest between Tobacco Road rivals.
This isn't Smith vs. Coach K. It's Sagula vs. Nagel.
The volleyball team faces off at 7:30 p.m. against 12th-ranked North Carolina, with both teams coming in on winning surges. Duke has won its last seven matches, and nine of its last ten.
Conversely, North Carolina has won 14 out of its last 15 and is leading the Atlantic Coast Conference with a 10-1 league record.
These two streaking teams met earlier in the year, when the Tar Heels won a brutal four-game match at Carmichael Auditorium in Chapel Hill. UNC, then-No. 11 in the country, took a 30-22 and 30-23 victories in the first and third games. Duke muscled out a victory in the second game, 30-20. In the fourth stanza, Duke lost a heartbreaker by only two points, falling 30-28 to lose the match.
The Blue Devils have not lost since, and their consistent winning reflects some adjustments in the team lineup, strategy, and focus.
"Carolina tries to [force] their opponents to make mistakes," said senior outside hitter Jill Sonne. "We don't make as many mistakes now as we did when we played UNC [earlier in the season]."
Head coach Jolene Nagel's squad is hoping to earn retribution for the October loss, but Nagel stresses that the team should concentrate on Friday, and that winning would be first and foremost in her players' minds.
"With these matches, every night's a new night," Nagel said. "It's going to be a battle, regardless of how the past games have gone."
Regardless, much of tonight's focus will be on the past, as it represents the penultimate game in Cameron Indoor Stadium for the squad's three seniors.
Sonne, defensive specialist Josie Weymann, and middle blocker Rachel Vander Griend are all four-year veterans of the team, going into its last truly competitive home game.
The final home matchup, and therefore Senior Night, will fall on Saturday against the woeful Wolfpack of N.C. State, whose conference record is a dismal 0-11.
Focusing on the Tar Heels should be easier, then, since N.C. State is not a terribly imposing opponent.
"These seniors have contributed significantly to this team for four years, so it's bittersweet," Nagel said. "We'll have to do a lot of training to fill the holes they leave when they graduate."
Both teams will go into the final game hoping to improve their records, but clearly there is more at stake.
"With UNC, it's never about wins and losses," Weymann said of the game's significance. "With this rivalry, it's about blood."
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