Miscues on offense and defense plague Duke volleyball in second straight loss

<p>Jessi Bartholomew's seven kills were not enough to help Duke to a win Saturday.</p>

Jessi Bartholomew's seven kills were not enough to help Duke to a win Saturday.

After a disappointing loss to Northwestern, the Blue Devils could not redeem themselves in the final match of the Duke Invitational.

The Blue Devils concluded the weekend with a four-set loss against South Carolina Saturday afternoon at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Although the Blue Devils looked like they had found their groove in the first set, Gamecock sophomore Mikayla Shields took over the match. The South Carolina outside hitter notched a career high 26 kills to take advantage of a disorganized Duke defense, giving the Gamecocks a comeback 19-25, 25-20, 25-21, 25-16 win before they headed home.

“We had a strong start, but we definitely needed to take that into the next set,” Duke head coach Jolene Nagel said. “We were down quickly in that second set, so we didn't give ourselves a chance. We're going to learn a ton from this weekend and we had some new faces on the floor, which was wonderful and hopefully giving them some experience.”

At the start of the first set, Nagel’s team looked as strong as ever, with senior Cadie Bates and freshman Payton Schwantz—who was named to the All-Tournament team—leading the Blue Devil offense.

Duke (4-2) opened the match with a quick 9-4 lead, and although South Carolina responded with four points of its own, the Blue Devils held their lead in a back-and-forth frame up to 18-16. From there, Duke took off, taking the set thanks in large part to Bates and Schwantz contributing five kills each.

However, the Blue Devils struggled to find any footing in Cameron from there.

The Gamecocks (4-2) swooped forward with an early 10-5 lead in the second set, with communication breakdowns on Duke’s end costing the Blue Devils crucial points off easy sets. Down 19-12, kills from Bates and freshman Summer Brown allowed Duke to claw back with a 7-1 run, trimming the deficit to 20-19. But just as the Blue Devils were beginning to re-enter the conversation, South Carolina responded with four straight points of their own to put the set away.

By the start of the third set, Duke was in disarray. Within the first 10 points, the Blue Devils committed five attacking errors, giving the Gamecocks an easy 10-3 lead. Duke managed to level the score at 19-19, but two Blue Devil attack errors and three clean kills from Shields gave South Carolina the advantage in the match entering the fourth set.

“[Communication] definitely was [an issue],” Nagel said. “That's not usual for our team. We have to work on communicating--and that broke down for us a bit today. Those are some of those little things we have to do better and have the discipline to do every time we're on the court.”

In set 4, Duke's defense become more ineffective, lending a single block to its match total of 4.5. The Gamecocks dominated the set, taking a 20-10 lead by shutting down any attempts by the Blue Devil offense to find another gear. Ultimately, South Carolina closed the frame 25-16, leaving Duke with back-to-back losses to wrap up the weekend.

Although the Blue Devils started their season with four straight wins in nonconference play, their offensive inefficiency is beginning to take a toll. The Blue Devils totaled 21 attacking errors Saturday—eight in the third set—and Schwartz was the only Blue Devil with double-digit kills. But with Brown finally taking a bigger attacking role, Duke may be able to find additional scoring potential from its underclassmen.

“[Schwartz and Brown] were a couple of positives we could take away for today,” Nagel said. “Certainly, to get Summer in there starting and have her be productive for us offensively was really great, especially against a really strong opponent. Payton did a great job too, not only offensively but on the defensive end as well. It's nice to see a couple of young players being able to do that and get that experience moving forward.”

The Blue Devils will return to the court next Friday in Fort Worth, Texas, in the Fight in the Fort at TCU. There, Duke will continue its nonconference slate against the likes of the Horned Frogs, Utah Valley, and Lehigh.

“It's the little things—we were undisciplined this weekend, and against great competition you just can't afford to do that,” Nagel said. “We'll get back, play some great practices, and make those things a little more efficient for us for next weekend.”

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