Completed Event: Volleyball versus California on November 28, 2025 , Loss , 2, to, 3
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Final
Volleyball
2
vs California
3
Friday, October 1
Pittsburgh, Pa.
7 PM
Duke University
at
Pitt
Duke Travels to No. 2 Pitt, Virginia
9/30/2021 10:44:00 AM | Volleyball
DURHAM – The Duke volleyball program hits the road for its first pair of ACC road contests this weekend. The Blue Devils take on No. 2 Pitt Friday, Oct. 1 at 7 p.m., in Pittsburgh before a 3 p.m., contest against Virginia on Sunday. Sunday's match in Charlottesville will be broadcast on ACCN.
LAST TIME OUT
Duke kicked off its ACC slate and went 1-1 over the weekend at Cameron Indoor Stadium. The Blue Devils swept Boston College on Friday before dropping a 3-0 match to Syracuse on Sunday. Libero Mackenzie Cole registered 35 digs while setter Alex Springate dished 53 assists. Duke hit .289 percent in the victory over Boston College with a season-high 18 blocks to help limit the Eagles to a .029 clip.
A CLOSER LOOK AT THE SERIES
PITT: Duke and Pitt will meet for the 21st time in program history as the Panthers own a 12-8 record. The last time the Blue Devils secured a victory over the Panthers was Oct. 28, 2018 with a 3-1 dub against No. 5 Pitt in Cameron Indoor Stadium. Duke is 4-3 in Pittsburgh.
VIRGINIA: Duke holds a strong 55-13 lead in the series history and have won eight straight. The two squads met twice in 2020 during the fall portion of the COVID-19 schedule and secured two sweeps, one in Charlottesville and one in Durham. Duke is 25-7 in Charlottesville.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
PITT: No. 2 Pitt is coming off a 3-0 sweep over Virginia on Wednesday and enters the weekend with a 13-0 (3-0 ACC) record. They are ranked in the top five in seven different ACC stats categories, headlined by kills (4th, 672) and assists (3rd, 621). Offensively, the Panthers are led by Chinaza Ndee (150 kills) and two-time ACC Player of the Year Kayla Lund (142 kills). Setters Lexis Akeo and Kylee Levers are splitting time and have dished over 500 assists as Pitt is hitting .270 percent as a team. At the net, the Panthers feature four with 20+ blocks, led by Serena Gray with 56.0. Lund is ranked 20th on the NCAA active career charts with 1,481 career kills.
VIRGINIA: The Cavaliers (8-5, 1-2 ACC) are coming off getting swept 3-0 at No. 2 Pitt. Virginia is second in the ACC in blocks (140.0) and are led by graduate student Alana Walker (83.0) who transferred to Virginia from Northwestern for her final year of eligibility. Virginia is tabbed 13th in the nation in total blocks. Offensively, the Cavaliers are led by Grace Turner (134 kills) and Brooklyn Borum (120 kills) while setter Ashley Le has dished 251 assists. As a team, Virginia is hitting .182 percent.
COLE RANKS AMONG THE BEST
Senior libero Mackenzie Cole is ranked 29th on the NCAA active career leaders list with 1,442 career digs to date. She needs 171 to move into the top 20. She is also currently tabbed eighth on the Duke all-time charts.
Cole has been one of Duke's top defensive specialists during her time in Durham and has 19 games with 20+ digs. Her career-high of 29 came against North Carolina on November 17, 2018. She also owns 104 service aces, becoming the 18th player in Duke history to reach the milestone. This season, she owns 205 digs for a 4.5 digs/set average to lead the ACC and helps the team to rank seventh.
ON THE FAST TRACK
With an overall record of 10-3 (1-1 ACC), Duke is off to its best start since the 2013 season, when the Blue Devils were crowned ACC Champions with a final 28-5 (18-2 ACC) record. Nagel's squad also reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament that year.
MARATHON MATCHES
The Blue Devils started the 2021 slate with back-to-back five-set matches and since then, Duke has only played in two that went beyond three: Howard, 4 sets (9/3) and Michigan, 5 sets (9/10). In 2020-21, Duke played in seven five-set matches and went 1-6.
UP NEXT
Duke will return to Cameron Indoor Stadium to welcome Miami and Florida State Oct. 8 and Oct. 10 for a pair of ACC matches. Both contests will be broadcast on ACCNX.
For more information on Duke volleyball, follow the Blue Devils on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram by searching for "DukeVB".
#GoDuke
LAST TIME OUT
Duke kicked off its ACC slate and went 1-1 over the weekend at Cameron Indoor Stadium. The Blue Devils swept Boston College on Friday before dropping a 3-0 match to Syracuse on Sunday. Libero Mackenzie Cole registered 35 digs while setter Alex Springate dished 53 assists. Duke hit .289 percent in the victory over Boston College with a season-high 18 blocks to help limit the Eagles to a .029 clip.
A CLOSER LOOK AT THE SERIES
PITT: Duke and Pitt will meet for the 21st time in program history as the Panthers own a 12-8 record. The last time the Blue Devils secured a victory over the Panthers was Oct. 28, 2018 with a 3-1 dub against No. 5 Pitt in Cameron Indoor Stadium. Duke is 4-3 in Pittsburgh.
VIRGINIA: Duke holds a strong 55-13 lead in the series history and have won eight straight. The two squads met twice in 2020 during the fall portion of the COVID-19 schedule and secured two sweeps, one in Charlottesville and one in Durham. Duke is 25-7 in Charlottesville.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
PITT: No. 2 Pitt is coming off a 3-0 sweep over Virginia on Wednesday and enters the weekend with a 13-0 (3-0 ACC) record. They are ranked in the top five in seven different ACC stats categories, headlined by kills (4th, 672) and assists (3rd, 621). Offensively, the Panthers are led by Chinaza Ndee (150 kills) and two-time ACC Player of the Year Kayla Lund (142 kills). Setters Lexis Akeo and Kylee Levers are splitting time and have dished over 500 assists as Pitt is hitting .270 percent as a team. At the net, the Panthers feature four with 20+ blocks, led by Serena Gray with 56.0. Lund is ranked 20th on the NCAA active career charts with 1,481 career kills.
VIRGINIA: The Cavaliers (8-5, 1-2 ACC) are coming off getting swept 3-0 at No. 2 Pitt. Virginia is second in the ACC in blocks (140.0) and are led by graduate student Alana Walker (83.0) who transferred to Virginia from Northwestern for her final year of eligibility. Virginia is tabbed 13th in the nation in total blocks. Offensively, the Cavaliers are led by Grace Turner (134 kills) and Brooklyn Borum (120 kills) while setter Ashley Le has dished 251 assists. As a team, Virginia is hitting .182 percent.
COLE RANKS AMONG THE BEST
Senior libero Mackenzie Cole is ranked 29th on the NCAA active career leaders list with 1,442 career digs to date. She needs 171 to move into the top 20. She is also currently tabbed eighth on the Duke all-time charts.
Cole has been one of Duke's top defensive specialists during her time in Durham and has 19 games with 20+ digs. Her career-high of 29 came against North Carolina on November 17, 2018. She also owns 104 service aces, becoming the 18th player in Duke history to reach the milestone. This season, she owns 205 digs for a 4.5 digs/set average to lead the ACC and helps the team to rank seventh.
ON THE FAST TRACK
With an overall record of 10-3 (1-1 ACC), Duke is off to its best start since the 2013 season, when the Blue Devils were crowned ACC Champions with a final 28-5 (18-2 ACC) record. Nagel's squad also reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament that year.
MARATHON MATCHES
The Blue Devils started the 2021 slate with back-to-back five-set matches and since then, Duke has only played in two that went beyond three: Howard, 4 sets (9/3) and Michigan, 5 sets (9/10). In 2020-21, Duke played in seven five-set matches and went 1-6.
UP NEXT
Duke will return to Cameron Indoor Stadium to welcome Miami and Florida State Oct. 8 and Oct. 10 for a pair of ACC matches. Both contests will be broadcast on ACCNX.
For more information on Duke volleyball, follow the Blue Devils on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram by searching for "DukeVB".
#GoDuke
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