After receiving a bid to the NCAA tournament for the eighth consecutive year in 2011, Duke begins its 2012 campaign Friday against William and Mary.
The Blue Devils debut their No. 10 ranked recruiting class in their first match of the season as part of the second annual Duke Invitational held in Cameron Indoor Stadium.
The class of 2016 features five standout talents — outside hitter Breanna Atkinson, middle blocker Elizabeth Campbell, outside hitter Emily Sklar, rightside hitter and setter Christina Vucich and outside hitter and defensive specialist Laura Williams.
“This group brings both size as well as athleticism to our team,” Duke head coach Jolene Nagel told GoDuke.com. “All five incoming freshmen represent the balance between dedicated student and talented volleyball player. They are all highly motivated with a great passion for the game and for Duke.”
Ranked fourth in the preseason ACC head coaches poll, the Blue Devils return five upperclassmen, including senior co-captains Christiana Gray, Megan Hendrickson and Nailah Waterfield. Gray posted the eighth highest hitting percentage in the NCAA last season. Junior Ali McCurdy, who along with Gray received preseason All-ACC honors, broke Duke’s single season digs record in 2011 with 653.
William and Mary begins its season in search of a record ninth Colonial Athletic Association title. Although the Tribe went just 8-18 last season, they add six freshmen to a team that lost just one starter from last season.
Friday’s matchup is the first of three for the Blue Devils this weekend. Duke will face both Fairfield and Wisconsin-Milwaukee Saturday.
The Stags return 10 players from last year’s team and are picked to finished first in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference this season. Sophomore Caitlin Stapleton and junior Rachel Romansky both earned preseason all-MAAC honors.
The Panthers bring back seven letter winners from a team that won last year’s Horizon League regular season and tournament titles. UW-Milwaukee is picked to win the regular season title again in 2012. Junior Rachel Neuberger, senior Elizabeth Egerer, and sophomore Kayla Price received preseason all-Horizon League honors.
And after the Blue Devils won all three games in last year’s Duke Invitational to begin the season, they will look to begin this campaign with a similarly strong start against non-conference foes.
“We’re excited for this year’s 2012 volleyball season here at Duke,” Nagel said. “One of the reasons that we’re so excited is that the team has made a commitment to be here to begin training together in July amongst themselves. I think they are really hungry and ready to play someone other than each other.”
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