For Duke, there's no place like home.
After notching a sweep against Virginia Friday night, the Blue Devils earned their seventh consecutive win with a straight-set victory against Virginia Tech Saturday night at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Sophomore outside hitter Emily Sklar led Duke with 13 kills on the match.
Since dropping their last match Sept. 7 on the road against Minnesota, the Blue Devils have captured all seven victories in front of the home fans, including a crowd of 2,387 Saturday night.
“One of our goals for the game was to protect our home court, so [winning] was a good thing for us,” Sklar said. “It was really great to win in three against the Virginia teams because we don’t get to play them again this year.”
Duke (11-2, 2-0 in the ACC) did not waste any time, jumping out to a 17-12 lead and forcing the Hokies (13-3, 1-1) to take a timeout. The Blue Devils won the first set 25-19 with a service ace by senior libero Ali McCurdy.
Freshman Lindsey Owens led Virginia Tech in the first set with four kills and three digs and kept up her aggressive hitting throughout the match. The outside hitter had a total of 11 kills in the match and four solo blocks.
Duke was forced to account for Owens whenever she was on the floor, emphasizing a strong block on the right side.
“They have a lot of good hitters, so it is a lot to prepare for. I thought our right side block did a good job on our timing and being strong in order to contain their outside hitters,” head coach Jolene Nagel said. “They still got some great shots, but I was pleased we were able to slow it down some.”
The Blue Devils took a 20-14 lead in the second set, but an 8-3 run by Virginia Tech pulled the Hokies within a point. Back-to-back kills by sophomore Elizabeth Campbell and senior Chelsea Cook sealed the set for Duke.
“They started to fight back a little towards the end,” Cook said. "We were up by a lot and kind of gave them a little at the end, so we were trying to finish as quick as possible there and get [up] 2-0.”
Virginia Tech gained momentum in the third set, getting ahead 5-1. The Blue Devils took a quick timeout and bounced back to win the next point with a block by Campbell and Cook. Duke broke ahead at 10-9 and did not relinquish its lead. The Blue Devils closed the match on a five-point streak, with Sklar's final kill of the evening capping off the victory.
“We were down in the beginning and we weren’t too worried about it. They came back before when they were down, and we can do the exact same thing,” Sklar said. “If we get some momentum and get some fire going, then we can make a run and just finish it.”
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