Despite facing two match points, Duke refused to fold to its arch rival, topping North Carolina in a thriller to win the ACC Championship.
The No. 15 Blue Devils edged out the No. 14 Tar Heels Friday in a five-set barn burner at Cameron Indoor Stadium. After losing two of the first three sets and trailing by as many as eight points in the fourth, Duke fought back to win 3-2 in front of the home crowd on Senior Day and secure an automatic berth into this year's NCAA tournament.
“I’m really excited for our team, really happy for our seniors, happy for our whole team, because they’ve been a true team this year,” head coach Jolene Nagel said. “[They’ve] pushed each other every single day, supported each other, and I think that’s what got us through today.”
Neither team gained more than a two-point advantage in the decisive set, and there were five lead changes. North Carolina (27-4, 16-5 in the ACC) had back-to-back match points at 14-12 and 14-13, but an attack error followed by a kill by senior Chelsea Cook sent the Blue Devils (27-4, 18-2) ahead 15-14. With each team grappling for the two-point margin that would give them the win, the cross-town rivals traded kills back and forth until Duke managed consecutive kills by junior outside hitter Jeme Obeime and sophomore middle blocker Elizabeth Campbell to claim the victory 21-19.
“We just said, 'let’s not worry about the score.' We really just needed to play point-for-point,” senior defensive specialist Ali McCurdy said. “It was a great overall team effort to come out and be able to finish [the game] in the fifth set.”
Looking to keep Duke out of sole possession of the conference's top spot, North Carolina dominated the first set, taking its first lead at 6-5 and cruising to a 25-17 win. The difference in play stemmed from attack errors—the Tar Heels limited themselves to three errors en route to a .297 hitting percentage, and Duke struggled, ending the first set with nine errors and a hitting percentage of .064.
“Our timing was a little bit off…. Our communication was a little lax, too, and we really needed to bring that stuff up,” Nagel said. “I can’t explain this team and their ability to work through when we’re not especially playing our best.”
Duke fought back to win the second set by a narrow two-point margin. The Tar Heels closed in on a five-point Duke lead to cut the score to 24-23, but a North Carolina service error ended the set 25-23 and evened the set score at one apiece. Play remained just as tight in the third set, this time in favor of the Tar Heels. Stopping Duke’s attacking effort with five team blocks, North Carolina held on to win 25-22 and take the 2-1 lead.
“They definitely pushed hard against us, and we just had to step up and push back. They really got us, especially in that third game,” senior middle blocker Chelsea Cook said. “We just kept saying that we’re going to have to fight, we have to keep fighting, we have to keep pushing back—give it all that we have.”
With the match on the line, the Blue Devils did not claim a lead in the fourth set until the final two points of play. Down 22-14, a kill from Obeime began what would be an 11-1 run for Duke. Campbell ended the set 25-23 with back-to-back kills, sending the match into the fifth and final set.
Duke ended its regular season with an undefeated record in Cameron Indoor Stadium, a guaranteed spot in the NCAA tournament and its first ACC title since 2010. The Blue Devils will await their NCAA tournament seeding Sunday, but they could host their first two postseason matchups if they are granted a high enough seed.
“Honestly, it probably couldn’t have gone any better,” Cook said. “Carolina on senior day for the ACC Championship—our team showed incredible fight today, and it was just an incredible victory.”
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.