CHAPEL HILL -- What started out as a wipe out ended up as a heated competition without a definite dominating team. As the Tar Heel fans filed into the Smith Center for Midnight Madness with their "Got Roy?" t-shirts, they fueled the women's volleyball team to rally for five games before defeating a heartbroken Blue Devil team.
"I'm disappointed with the outcome," head coach Jolene Nagel said. "We weren't able to take advantage of the many opportunities we were given."
Duke (7-13, 3-5 in the ACC) came off the bench strong in the first game and took the match lead with some ease, winning 30-19. However, North Carolina (15-6, 6-2) was not about to be embarrassed in front of their NCAA-record 16,126. When the Tar Heels came off the bench for the next game, their hits were much more powerful and their attitude was much more aggressive. Katie Gilman, who had been leading the team in attacks, found herself struggling against an impenetrable double block by Katie Wright and Meg Eckert. These defensive strengths, meanwhile, allowed North Carolina to pick up its offense and set up Eckert for crowd-pleasing kills, finishing the night with 24 in total. The Tar Heels took game two 32-30.
"It was definitely a really emotional game," team captain Krista Dill said. "We were on top of them the whole first game and really executed well. You have to know whenever you play Carolina that they're there to play, too. I think they did a good job playing their game and we weren't crisp from the top. They picked it up and we just relaxed a bit."
In the first game, Duke outhit North Carolina 42.1 percent to 7.3 percent. By the fifth and final game, the Tar Heels were hitting at 43.8 percent while the Blue Devils were at zero. In between, it was neck-and-neck for three games of solid volleyball. In the third game, both teams came out with their attackers splitting the blocks with tough cross-court shots. Strong attack on both sides by Tassy Rufai for Duke and Molly Pyles for North Carolina kept the game within two points until the Blue Devils faltered and the Tar Heels scored three straight to take game three 32-30.
"We started to play better towards the second half of the game," Dill said. "Some calls went their way by the end of the game, I think, that costs us."
By the fourth game, Duke had had enough of the Carolina crowd. Lead by Rufai, it came out strong. Wright kept the game close with strong attacks, though it sometimes cost her by hitting out. Duke finally battled back with key attacks by Sarah Salem and Tealle Hunkus at the end of the game to give the Blue Devils the win 37-35 and push the match into a decisive game five.
"That was a battle," Dill said. "It was really intense at the end. It showed a lot about our team. We played point for point and we played 'never-say-die.' We did a good job not looking at the score. But that fifth game just killed me."
It looked like Duke's momentum had carried over in game five, as it lead 8-2 when the team switched sides. But once again, North Carolina was not to be had. The Tar Heels came out swinging and took game five 15-11.
The Carolina game only added fuel to Duke's fire at midseason. The Blue Devils' ability to stay on top of a strong team like Carolina shows their growing strength. Saturday, the Blue Devils swept NC State (6-16, 0-8) as they head into the second half of their season.
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