Duke women's lacrosse Head Coach Kerstin Kimel and the Blue Devils head into the final four for just the second time in school history to face sixth-seeded Virginia Friday night at approximately 8:30 in Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Md.

The second-seeded Blue Devils advanced to the national semifinal game after defeating North Carolina, 15-7, Sunday in Durham. In the first round, Duke took it to Richmond, 16-4, while Virginia beat Johns Hopkins 10-8 in round one, followed by a 13-9 victory over third-seeded Boston University in the quarterfinals. Duke secured the No. 2 seed, the highest tourney entrance in school history, after finishing the season with a record-setting 15-3 record and the school's first ACC Championship.

The winner of Friday's game advances to the national championship game to face the winner of the first semifinal contest between top-seeded Northwestern and fourth-seeded Dartmouth. Duke holds a record of 3-1 against the final four field from the 2005 regular season with the lone loss coming at the hands of top-ranked Northwestern in Evanston, Ill.

BLUE DEVILS IN THE TOURNAMENT
Duke is 6-7 in NCAA Tournament action over the last seven years, including Sunday's win over North Carolina. In eight consecutive appearances, the Blue Devils have made one trip to the final four in 1999, when it lost to conference foe Virginia in the semifinal round. With the win versus North Carolina, Duke improved its record to 6-2 record when hosting an NCAA Tournament game, with the two losses coming in the past two seasons. The Blue Devils had never won two games in the national tourney before 2005, as the 1997-1999 championships placed just eight teams in the bracket, making it possible to advance to the final four after winning one game.

DUKE VS. VIRGINIA
This is the third meeting between the two teams in the 2005 campaign, with Duke coming away victorious in each of the previous two meetings. The Blue Devils defeated the Cavaliers 16-12 during the regular season in Charlottesville before taking it to them again in the ACC Championship game, 9-6. Virginia holds a 11-5 advantage in the all-time series; however, Duke has taken three of the last four meetings over the last two seasons.

In the only meeting between the two teams in NCAA Tournament play, the Cavaliers defeated Duke 9-8 in the semifinal game in 1999.

SCOUTING THE CAVALIERS The two-time defending national champion Cavaliers are led by the reigning Tewaaraton Trophy winner Amy Appelt, Tyler Leachman and Cary Chasney across the attack, while Nikki Lieb, Ashley Dodson and goalie Ginger Miles anchor the defensive end. Virgina's scoring offense is ranked sixth in the NCAA with an average of 12.95 goals per game, 59 percent of which have been scored by the hands of Appelt (53g), Leachman (60g) and Chasney (39g). Lieb, Dodson and Meredith Lazarus have combined for 71 caused turnovers, while Miles holds a 8.23 goals against average and a .530 save percentage.

In its ninth appearance in the NCAA tourney, Virginia is the only team to return to the final four from last year's tournament field. In four trips to the final four, the Cavaliers have never made it to the semifinals without advancing to the championship game.