The Blue Devils seemed to dig their own grave with early errors, but head coach Jolene Nagel quickly righted the ship and Duke stormed back to take three straight sets and close out the game in dominant fashion.
The Blue Devils came alive against West Virginia after dropping the first set, winning 3-1 (17-25, 25-23, 25-13, 25-15) Friday at Cameron Indoor Stadium. The Mountaineers took the early set with an opportunistic defense, racking up five blocks, and a sharp offense, picking up nine kills against just four errors. However Duke found its groove midway through the second set and it was as if an entirely different team stepped onto the court.
“We sure were filled with errors in that first set," Nagel said. "We needed to be a little smarter as hitters. I thought we needed to do a better job of coverage of our hitters."
Senior Jeme Obeime—Duke's leading hitter so far this year—and junior Emily Sklar—fresh off a career-high 24-kill performance against Penn—both struggled early, combining for just 5 kills and 6 errors on 21 attempts in the first set. As a team, Duke (7-3) had 10 errors in the first set as the Blue Devils struggled to find a rhythm offensively. West Virginia (10-2) used an 8-0 run to turn a two-point deficit into a commanding 16-10 lead and coasted to a first-set win.
“I felt like we just weren’t very confident in our swings. We were getting blocked a lot, and I felt we were passive," Sklar said. "I decided that no matter what happened, I’d go out there and just be aggressive."
After taking just nine attempts in the opening set, the San Jose, Calif., native took 20 shots in the second as the team rallied to tie the game up at a set apiece. Sklar finished with 17 kills and five errors, mixing in a variety of shots, including a beautiful floater to the deep left corner immediately following a West Virginia timeout.
It seemed as if Duke had moved on from the passiveness they displayed in the first set, leading 21-15 until West Virginia closed the gap at 23-22. Duke, barely clinging to a lead, managed to close out the set 25-23.
Sophomore Jordan Anderson of West Virginia carried the team through most of the game, contributing 18 kills with a 0.204 hitting percentage. No other Mountaineer had more than nine kills. By contrast, the Blue Devils featured a balanced offensive attack, with Sklar, Obeime, sophomore Alyse Whitaker, and junior Breanna Atkinson all contributing nine or more kills.
“We’ve been working a lot on trying to shut teams down by adjusting,” Sklar said.
In the third set, Duke made those adjustments to take complete control of the match. The Blue Devils started off hot, building an 11-5 lead. All the gears were clicking at that point, with the Blue Devils’ service game and up-front blocking stifling the Mountaineers’ attempts to cut down the deficit. Obeime crushed the set-clinching point from a Maggie Deichmeister set as Duke claimed a 25-13 win and took a 2-1 lead.
With 19 errors in the first two sets and a combined hitting percentage of 0.039, the Blue Devils cut down on their mistakes in the third. Duke committed a mere three errors and racked up 15 kills, nine of those scored by Sklar and Whitaker. Kelsey Williams was inserted into the lineup as the setter and helped create opportunities for her teammates. Williams and Deichmeister finished with 17 assists apiece.
The Blue Devils carried the momentum and error-free play into the final set, with the team drilling 14 kills and committing only one error. Defensive specialist Sasha Karelov was a steadying presence for Duke all over the court, as the sophomore tallied a career-high 11 assists and kept possessions alive with 19 digs. West Virginia sputtered down the stretch, falling behind 20-12 as the Blue Devils remained strong on the attack. Sklar eventually hit the cross-court game-winner that gave Duke the set 25-15 and the 3-1 win.
The final two sets—during which the Blue Devils produced 29 kills against just four errors—were reminiscent of the dominance that carried the Blue Devils to the ACC title in 2013.
Duke faces a quick turnaround, and will look to carry over the momentum from the last two stanzas against West Virginia into Saturday's contest against another Big 12 foe. The Blue Devils will meet Oklahoma at 6:30 p.m. at Cameron Indoor Stadium looking to preserve their unblemished home record so far this season and close out nonconference play on a high note.
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