April 25, 2002

The 2002 Duke volleyball scheduled was released Thursday by Blue Devil head coach Jolene Nagel. The schedule features 16 home matches and seven contests against five teams that went to the 2001 NCAA Volleyball Championships.

"Our 2002 schedule will be the most demanding schedule since my arrival at Duke," Nagel said. "Although we graduated four seniors this past season, the current team really made strides during our offseason training. We're excited and looking forward to the challenges in 2002."

The Blue Devils will open the 2002 season at Loyola Marymount, where they will play Oklahoma on Aug. 30 and both Bradley and Loyola Marymount on Aug. 31. Duke will make its 2002 home debut on Sept. 3, when it hosts High Point.

The Blue Devils hit the road again Sept. 6-7, when they travel to Pittsburgh. Duke will play Pittsburgh on Sept. 6 and Bowling Green and Indiana State on Sept. 7. Duke then travels to Greenville, N.C., for a match with East Carolina on Sept. 10.

Duke hosts the 2002 Duke Classic Sept. 13-14, welcoming American, Santa Barbara and Wisconsin to Cameron Indoor Stadium. The Blue Devils will play American on Sept. 13 and will battle two of the nation's top teams on Sept. 14. Both nationally-ranked Santa Barbara and perennial powerhouse Wisconsin advanced to the NCAA Tournament last season, with the Badgers finishing ranked seventh in the country. Santa Barbara was among the nation's top 25 teams throughout the year.

Duke's non-conference slate continues with home matches on Sept. 17 against North Carolina A&T, Sept. 20 against Rutgers and Sept. 21 against Georgetown and Campbell.

The defending Atlantic Coast Conference regular season champions, the Blue Devils begin play in the ACC at Wake Forest on Sept. 24 and at Florida State on Sept. 28. Duke opens its home portion of the ACC schedule in early October, hosting Virginia Oct. 3 and Maryland Oct. 4.

The Blue Devils play at Triangle-rivals North Carolina and N.C. State Oct. 10 and 11, respectively. The Tar Heels won the 2001 ACC Tournament Championship and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

Duke returns home to host 2001 NCAA Tournament participant Georgia Tech Oct. 15, Florida State Oct. 19, Clemson Oct. 20 and Wake Forest Oct. 26.

The Blue Devils play at Virginia and Maryland Oct. 29 and Nov. 3 before returning home to conclude the home portion of their 2002 schedule. Duke will host North Carolina on Nov. 8 and N.C. State on Nov. 9.

Duke concludes the 2002 regular season schedule with matches on Nov. 15 at Clemson and Nov. 16 at Georgia Tech.

Duke will participate in the ACC Championships at Georgia Tech in Atlanta Nov. 20-23.