DURHAM – The Duke volleyball team is set to open its ACC schedule on the road this weekend at Boston College and Syracuse. The Blue Devils will face the Orange Friday at noon before a 1:00 p.m. game in Chestnut Hill against the Eagles. Both games will be broadcast on ACCNX.
LAST TIME OUT
The Duke volleyball team captured its ninth straight victory with two victories last weekend over Winthrop (3-1) and Harvard (3-0). initial Taylor Atkinson helped lead the Blue Devils to victory over the Crimson as she led the team with 14 kills and just three errors to post a .355 hitting percentage. She also led the team in aces (four) and added two blocks to her all-around performance. High setter Camille Nazor reached the 1,000-assist plateau with 32 assists and now owns 1,006 career dimes. She also tied her career high in aces (three) and added three blocks against Harvard.
A CLOSER LOOK AT THE SERIES
Boston College
Duke is 23-3 all-time against Boston College, but is 2-2 since 2019. The Blue Devils are 9-2 all-time in Chestnut Hill.
Syracuse
Duke is 7-6 all-time against Syracuse. The two teams met twice a season ago and split the games.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
Boston College
The Eagles are 11-3 early in the fall and 0-1 in conference play after dropping a 3-2 decision at Syracuse on Wednesday. Boston College is led offensively by Alayna Crabtree with 135 kills, followed by Katrina Jensen with 120. As a team, the Eagles are hitting .272 percent this fall to rank third in the ACC and 26th nationally. Eagles lead setter Grace Penn owns 323 assists while Anna Murphy has 166 digs to her name. As a team, the Eagles have 126.0 total blocks to rank 10th nationally and are led by Julia Haggerty (60) and Kate Brennan (53).
Syracuse
Syracuse enters Sunday’s game 5-6 overall and 1-0 in ACC competition after taking a five-set sweep over Boston College on Wednesday. Offensively, second-team All-ACC honoree Polina Shemanova leads the way with 164 kills for 3.81 kills/set and a .224 hitting clip. Viktoriia Lokhmanchuk is close behind with 153 kills. The Orange rotates between two players in Lauren Woodford (236) and Riley Hoffman (184) and features three players with over 100 digs.
NATIONAL RANKING
Duke is near the top of the Division I national rankings in two categories heading into the fall: No. 9 in the total of aces (99) and no. 3 in ace per set (2.30). Gracie Johnson is the catalyst behind those ace numbers as she is tied for 15th nationally with 25 aces and fourth with 0.78 aces per set. In the ACC, leads in total aces, is second in kills (143) and is second in total points (174.5). Setter Devon Chang is number 18 in Division I with 10.64 assists per set and owns 415 total dimes. Middle blocker Rylie Kadel leads team with 45 total blocks (5 solo/40 assists) at 1.13 blocks per set to rank seventh in conference. Kadel joins them Lizzie Fleming with 44 total blocks (4 solo/40 assists) at 1.02 blocks per set.
IT’S A MARATHON, NOT A SPRINT
So far this season, Duke has gone into extra sets in nine of its 11 games, including a five-set game against Michigan State (9/10). Duke did that 10 times in 2021, while playing in 19 three-set matches.
THE NEXT MATCH
Duke will host No. 10 Pittsburgh (Sept. 30) and Virginia (Oct. 2) at Cameron Indoor Stadium. The game against the Cavaliers will be in the ACCN.
For more information on Duke Volleyball, follow the Blue Devils at I tweetFacebook and Instagram by searching for “https://goduke.com/news/2022/9/22/DukeVB”.
#Good week
