Clemson (17-14, 6-9 in the ACC) was out for revenge after falling to the Blue Devils in three straight games earlier this season. That, along with the emotional force of senior night, was enough for the Tigers to sweep the Duke volleyball team (8-17, 5-9) Sunday at Jervey Gym.
"They were very pumped up and they played with a lot of emotion," senior captain Krista Dill said. "I think we handled that well. We came out and played hard. They just pushed us and we didn't rise up to that level to push back."
Leslie Finn of Clemson led all scorers with an impressive 21 kills and 13 digs. Her all-around playing earned the junior her 15th double-double of the season. Lori Ashton made crucial defensive plays for the Tigers with three blocks and 15 kills.
"When we played them last I think we played really well and they weren't connecting then. This is a different Clemson team and they got some big wins for themselves. They just beat Florida State and they just have more confidence," Dill said. "They didn't do anything special; it was just us and not being intense. That's what makes it so hard to lose; knowing it was all on our side."
Perhaps more notable than its stats, however, was the team's ability to dominate against the opposing defense when it was most crucial.
"Usually we had the lead or we were very close until the very end," Dill said. "They were very close games and it just came down to unfortunate errors."
Katie Gilman led Duke defensively with 10 digs, but when the Blue Devils were up in the third game, Clemson's Carly Hill was able to put up three service aces and the Tigers ran away with the match-deciding game.
"We played pretty solidly but toward the end of the match we just didn't make the plays we needed to make to win the game," Duke head coach Jolene Nagel said. "We had serve-receive issues toward the end of game three that hurt us. And I think we had defensive communication issues that could have made the game."
Duke was able to keep it close for all three games but was never able to clinch at the end. Despite the ultimate result, the Blue Devils were able to outhit and outblock Clemson. Duke's attack averaged .250 for the match to top the Tigers' .228. In addition, Dill and Tassy Rufai led the Blue Devils to 11 blocks, tallying five a piece, to Clemson's seven overall.
Still, Duke found it hard to capitalize when the time was right and lost opportunities on crucial moments during the match.
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