In recent years, the Blue Devils' senior day has been a bittersweet celebration, with friends and family on hand to celebrate the culmination of years of hard work from the seniors yet knowing that their time in Durham is coming to a close.
But with Duke starting to gain votes in national polls and making a strong push for an NCAA tournament bid, the surging Blue Devils are playing for a lot more than just their seniors this year.
Duke will play host to No. 17 Florida State Friday at 6:30 p.m. and Miami Sunday at 1 p.m. for Senior Day. The Blue Devils are riding a six-game win streak and enter Friday with a tournament bid and an outside shot at the regular season ACC championship on the line.
Duke sits just one game behind No. 6 North Carolina in the conference standings with Blue Devil senior middle blockers Alyse Whitaker and Jordan Tucker, defensive specialist Chloe DiPasquale, and defensive specialist Sasha Karelov set to play their final games at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
“This particular senior class has been a hard-working, fun-loving group that I really think we’re going to miss," Duke head coach Jolene Nagel said. They’ve done a tremendous job, they’ve been great leaders this year and they have worked really hard and have been a joy to coach.”
Two of those senior leaders, Tucker and Karelov, have surged at the right time for Duke. As the team leader in kills, Tucker has headed the charge on the offensive end for the Blue Devils (20-6, 14-2 in the ACC), notching a combined 40 kills in Duke's last three victories. Heading into her final two home games ranked sixth in Duke history in hitting percentage, Tucker has been a model of consistency for the Blue Devils, reaching double-digit kills 20 times this season.
“Jordan is a very smart player,” Nagel said. “She takes a lot of responsibility [as a leader]. The other incredible thing she’s done is she’s continued to play her very best night in and night out. She’s been a real rock for us in terms of her performance.”
Karelov has held it together on the defensive end for the Blue Devils, picking up double-digit digs in her last four games. The Raleigh native has also rewritten record books during her time in Durham, totaling the third-most total digs in program history and the 10th-most among all active players in the nation.
The Blue Devils will need to lean on Karelov and their conference-best digs-per-set average to knock off the Seminoles (20-5, 13-3) and their potent offense, which ranks second in the ACC in hitting percentage. Florida State boasts outside hitter Milica Kubura and middle blocker Mara Green—two of the ACC's top four players in hitting percentage. Armed with the ACC’s leader in blocks in Melanie Keil, the Seminoles are also a force to be reckoned with on defense.
“It’s going to be a big challenge,” Nagel said. “They have nice size, they’re a very strong team, they have played very good competition…. They’re a really good blocking team too. We’re going to have to be really disciplined in our block and our defense to really control all the hitters they have coming at us. Hopefully, with controlling our first touch, we can get our offense going.”
It took a while for the Blue Devils’ offense to get going last year at home against the Seminoles, dropping the first two sets, before rallying and ultimately falling just three points short in the fifth set.
Duke will also be taking on Miami (13-15, 7-9 ACC) for the first time this season, making it a little more difficult to prepare for both sides.
“We haven’t seen them yet this year, so we’re not as familiar with them as if we were playing them for the second time,” Nagel said.
Miami has struggled on defense, ranking 13th in the conference in opponents’ hitting percentage but boasts the ACC’s leader in aces and kills per set in Olga Strantzali.
“Miami is a much better team than their record indicates,” Nagel said. “They’ve had some injuries this year, so it’s been unfortunate, but they’ve really been able to put together some quality play in the season. We’re going to have our work cut out for us. Plus, with the fact that it’s Senior Day, we’re going to have to play with that emotion as well.”
Playing with emotion should not be a tall order for a Blue Devil team that has a lot on the line in its final home matches of the season. With a tilt against North Carolina in Chapel Hill Wednesday and the regular-season finale the following Saturday at N.C. State, Duke needs wins in its final four games to capture its first ACC championship since 2013.
But the Blue Devils will approach the weekend one game at a time, knowing that a loss could halt Duke's tournament hopes.
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Managing Editor 2018-19, 2019-2020 Features & Investigations Editor
A member of the class of 2020 hailing from San Mateo, Calif., Ben is The Chronicle's Towerview Editor and Investigations Editor. Outside of the Chronicle, he is a public policy major working towards a journalism certificate, has interned at the Tampa Bay Times and NBC News and frequents Pitchforks.