Sportswrap is your one-stop shop for everything Duke athletics, where we’ll recap how each of Duke’s sports currently in competition performed over the last week and give a brief look ahead. Here’s our recap for the week of Oct. 11-17.
Football
Ouch. In the span of three and a half hours, the Blue Devils’ season outlook went from mediocre to downright frightening, as Virginia obliterated Duke (3-4, 0-3) 48-0. Gunnar Holmberg had his worst outing as the starting signal caller, Mataeo Durant was only given 17 carries thanks to game script and the Blue Devil secondary was torched yet again, this time by the dynamic Brennan Armstrong. A bye week comes at a much-needed juncture, but where does this program go from here? -Max Rego
Women’s soccer
No. 8 Duke headed to Winston-Salem, N.C., Friday, where they smothered Wake Forest en route to a 2-0 win. Star striker Michelle Cooper notched her eighth goal in 10 games, centre back Emily Royson and wing back Olivia Migli showed off their sophomore development, and the Blue Devils moved up to third in nationwide RPI. With No. 3 North Carolina losing to N.C. State the next day, Duke (10-2-1, 4-2-1 in the ACC) now projects as the fifth seed in the conference tournament. Next is a match against No. 17 Notre Dame Thursday. -Em Adler
Men’s soccer
The No. 9 Blue Devils (9-3-0, 4-2) lost to No. 23 Clemson 3-2 in a nail-biter Friday night for their second straight defeat. Though sophomore midfielder Peter Stroud chipped in with both a goal and assist and junior forward Scotty Taylor scored a late equalizer to send the game into overtime, Clemson’s 91st minute winner proved decisive and resigned Duke to two ACC losses in their last two games. The Blue Devils visit Furman Oct. 19 before further in-conference clashes against Notre Dame and Virginia. -Andrew Long
Cross country
Pleased but not satisfied is the best way to describe Duke cross country’s showing at Pre-Nationals Friday in Tallahassee, Fla., as the men placed 13th and the women placed 15th. Both squads remain on the bubble of NCAA Championships qualification and will need to impress over their next two races if they want to make it back to Tallahassee. Their first opportunity to do that will come Oct. 29 at the ACC Championships. -Evan Kolin
Field hockey
Senior Day was spoiled by No. 7 Syracuse, as the 23rd-ranked Blue Devils fell 7-2 to the Orange to drop their fifth straight conference loss to start the year. Despite graduate student MaryKate Neff notching her third goal of the season, goalie Piper Hampsch struggled with the Syracuse cavalry—the Orange racked up 21 shots Saturday. Next for Duke (5-9, 0-5) is a Friday afternoon battle with Boston College. -Rego
Volleyball
Duke saw both sides of the coin this weekend, besting Clemson in three sets Friday and falling to No. 16 Georgia Tech in straight sets Sunday. The steady hand of Ade Owokoniran led the team in kills both games, with junior Moorea Wood continuing her recent hot streak and coming in at second with eight and five kills, respectively. The Blue Devils see their crosstown foes Friday when they hit the road for their first matchup against North Carolina. -Jake Piazza
Editor's note: Sportswrap will only include sports currently in season.
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Max Rego is a Trinity senior and an associate sports editor for The Chronicle's 118th volume. He was previously sports managing editor for Volume 117.
Jake Piazza is a Trinity senior and was sports editor of The Chronicle's 117th volume.
Andrew Long is a Trinity junior and sports editor of The Chronicle's 119th volume.