As if the arrival of a team clad in baby blue from Chapel Hill wasn't enough motivation for Duke, the team had the opportunity to help head coach Jolene Nagel secure the 200th victory of her Blue Devil career. Duke certainly made the most of it.
Feeding off the energy of a raucous home crowd of more than 1,300 fans, Duke (12-5, 3-2 in the ACC) topped North Carolina (8-5, 2-1) in a 3-1 match that was much closer than the score might indicate. With the Tar Heels seemingly intimidated by Cameron Indoor Stadium's electric atmosphere, the Blue Devils jumped out to an early lead and never looked back.
"The fan support was tremendous," Nagel said. "It was very inspiring for our team."
Senior Jourdan Norman broke the school's all-time blocks record during the first game, slamming down the 554th block of her Duke career. Thanks to the strong play around the net of Norman, who finished with four blocks in the match, Duke was able to take the opener.
In the second set-which featured eight ties and four lead changes-the exciting play continued, as it took the Blue Devils extra points to finish off their rivals, 26-24. Clinging to a 22-21 lead, Nagel took a pivotal timeout to rally and organize her team. The score moved to a deadlock at 24 before a scintillating spike from junior Rachael Moss and a block from Norman helped Duke close out the second set.
Particularly impressive in the second set was the play of freshmen Sophie Dunworth and Kellie Catanach, who played beyond their years on the offensive end.
"They were incredible," Norman said. "For me to forget that you're a freshman on the court and to have your whole team behind them, that says a lot about their efforts tonight."
Despite having a chance to end the match in three consecutive games, the Blue Devils coughed up a late lead as the Tar Heels reeled off four straight points to grab the third game, 26-24. Showing immediate resolve, Duke stormed back to seize control of the fourth and final game by a score of 25-22.
"That was really tough," Nagel said. "In the huddle, I let the girls know that we were facing a mental test, and we responded well."
For the match, Dunworth led the team with 15 kills while Moss and Norman contributed 14 and 11 kills, respectively. Catanach tallied 52 assists to go along with her four blocks, which tied her for team-high with Norman.
There was little time for rest or celebration, however, as Duke welcomed North Carolina State (8-11, 2-2) to Cameron the following night. In what could have potentially been a letdown game, the Blue Devils outplayed the Wolfpack in all facets of the match in a resounding 3-0 sweep.
Sophomore Becca Burling's performance stood out as she led the team in both kills and blocks, recording nine and three, respectively. Having started out the conference season a bit slowly, Duke hopes to use the momentum generated from these back-to-back home victories as it continues to navigate a treacherous ACC schedule.
"These games were a great reward," Nagel said. "But, we will need to continue proving ourselves every time that we step out on the court."
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