To salvage their season after four straight ACC losses, the Blue Devils needed a sweep in Virginia this weekend.
Duke did just that.
The Blue Devils topped Virginia 3-1 (24-26, 25-21, 28-26, 25-12) Friday evening at Memorial Gymnasium in Charlottesville, Va., and subsequently edged out Virginia Tech 3-2 (27-29, 19-25, 25-23, 25-15, 15-13) Sunday afternoon at Cassell Coliseum in Blacksburg, Va. The weekend was highlighted by standout performances from sophomore rightside hitter Samantha Amos and senior libero Nicole Elattrache.
Amos recorded a sharp .342 hitting clip along with a career-high 18 kills against the Hokies, and Elattrache reached 1,000 career digs versus the Cavaliers.
Elattrache came to the Blue Devil lineup as a setter and has been developing her defensive skills throughout her four years at Duke. Although defensive specialist was not her original position, Elattrache recorded 16 digs Friday night and became only the 23rd Blue Devil ever to reach the four-digit milestone.
“I saw her play in club, and she was such a good defensive player that even though she was setting, I knew she could fill that role for us,” head coach Jolene Nagel said. “It has taken a lot of work—she had to learn how to serve receive, and that’s a whole skill to learn. She really has taken advantage of every opportunity available for her to work at her game and get better, and we’re really so proud of this accomplishment.”
Duke (13-8, 5-5 in the ACC) maintained its ninth-place position in the ACC standings and got back to .500 in conference play with the two victories, as efficient kills and blocking were the difference-makers in both matchups.
Friday night against the Cavaliers (4-17, 0-10), the Blue Devils saw four players with double-digit kills. Freshman Payton Schwantz led the way with a .542 hitting clip and a 14-kill performance. Amos, junior Jessi Bartholomew and senior Cadie Bates also chimed in with more than 10 kills apiece.
A Bates kill established a 24-21 lead for Duke in the first set, which the Blue Devils ended up dropping 26-24 after Virginia won five straight points. Down 1-0 to the Cavaliers, Duke held out through another Virginia rally at the end of the second to take the set 25-21. The Blue Devils hit a blistering .361 in set two to tie the match 1-1 overall.
In the third set, Duke once again took the Cavaliers to the wire after trailing 17-13. Helped by an 11-5 run, the Blue Devils pushed the match to set point before a Bartholomew kill and a service error allowed Duke to take the 2-1 overall lead. The momentum continued, as the Blue Devils hit .360 in the fourth set and held the Cavaliers to a -.132 hitting percentage to take the win.
“Virginia played really strong defense,” Nagel said. “Our team really had to work to put a ball away against them tonight. There were some tight moments in the third set where it could’ve gone either way, and I was really happy to see our team be aggressive and finish."
Just as they did in the Virginia game Friday night, the Blue Devils started out slow against the Hokies (8-13, 2-8) and fought back. Virginia Tech defended four straight Duke set points to win the first set 29-27 and dominated the second set 25-19, not allowing the Blue Devils within three points after the early stages.
Down 2-0, Duke was neck-and-neck with the Hokies for the remainder of the match. In the third set, a kill by senior middle blocker Anna Kropf and a Bartholomew block established a set point for Duke. Bartholomew sealed the set with a kill, narrowing the Virginia Tech lead 2-1.
The Blue Devils controlled momentum in the fourth set much like the Hokies did in the second and pushed the match to a fifth set after capitalizing on nine Virginia Tech attack errors.
Duke went up 6-3 early in the final set and was able to establish match point at 14-9 after a Hokie service error. Virginia Tech did not let up easily, fighting back with four straight points to close the gap to 14-13 before Schwantz sealed the deal with another kill.
“I’m really excited for our team and proud of our team because they kept their heads about them,” Nagel said. “It was a little frantic there in the first couple sets, but we were able to take a deep breath and start executing better going into the third.”
The Blue Devils registered eight of their 11 blocks in the final three frames and saw improvement in hitting efficiency, as Duke made just 10 errors in the final three sets after committing 15 in the first two. Bates finished with 13 kills and nine digs, only one dig shy of another double-double.
“I’m so excited for this team because we’ve had so many things fighting against us this season,” Nagel said. “We need to be in these types of tight situations like today where we come out with a win and with more confidence in ourselves. I’m really proud of our team for sticking together and for fighting hard.”
The Blue Devils will hit the road again next weekend for games at Georgia Tech and Clemson.
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