Letter from the editor
What a year it has been! The Blue Devils made it to a College Cup, bowl game, Final Four and too many
Elite Eights to count. Along the way, they showed once again how special college athletics can be.
This is our second Year in Review edition, a chance to recap all three of Duke's seasons and highlight some of our writers' excellent work. The sports department did a tremendous job in Vol. 120, so I hope you enjoy looking back at their coverage of the year's most memorable moments.
I want to thank our former sports editor, Ranjan Jindal, and former sports managing editors, Sophie Levenson and Dom Fenoglio, for leading this coverage. Another big thank you to Martin Heintzelman, Elle Chavis and Caleb Dudley, the incoming sports uppermast team, for their consistent support and assistance in putting together this content!
Covering athletics at Duke is an experience like no other. This year, the student body came together to show incredible support throughout the season. Whether storming the field after Duke football took back the Victory Bell, or leaving the Cameron watch party in tears, Blue Devil fans exemplified the passion and spirit that connect us to Duke's teams.
I'm so honored to lead this incredible paper at such an important time in collegiate athletics, and I can’t wait to see what next year brings.
As always, your input remains incredibly important to this section. Please feel free to reach out with any coverage ideas or tips. My inbox (abd46@duke.edu) is always open.
Thanks again, and enjoy the reading!
Vol.121 Sports Masthead
Editor: Abby DiSalvo
Managing Editors: Elle Chavis, Martin Heintzelman
Multimedia Editor: Caleb Dudley
Blog Editor: Colton Schwabe
Assistant Blog Editors: Alex Min, Ryan Hamner, Lucy Glynn
Photo Editors: Amy Zhang, Anabel Howery
FALL FALL
The Blue Devils kicked off the year with a fall season to remember. Duke football went 5-0 to open its 2024 campaign, defying odds with a 20-point comeback against North Carolina and continuing on to sweep the Triangle. Though the team suffered heartbreakers against Georgia Tech and SMU, stalwart defense and a relentless fourth-quarter mentality became trademark characteristics under head coach Manny Diaz. The Blue Devils ended their season with a 9-4 record and a bowl game against Ole Miss.
Women’s soccer had a historic season of its own. A dynamic offense, led by Maggie Graham and Mia Minestrella, found its defensive complement in goalkeeper Leah Freeman. The Blue Devils played their way to a regular-season ACC title and held the No. 1 national ranking for much of the fall before ultimately falling to the Tar Heels in the College Cup. Head coach Robbie Church ended his 24th and final Duke season with much to be proud of.
Men’s soccer performed well in the regular season, tabbing an 10-2-4 record before falling out of both the ACC and NCAA tournaments with early losses. Cross country welcomed new head coach Kevin Jermyn in a short rebuilding season that ended with a ninth-place finish for the men’s team at Southern Regionals.
Volleyball struggled through a tough schedule, capping the year with a 10-21 overall record and 13th-place conference finish. Junior Kerry Keefe was a familiar standout for the Blue Devils as seven new players joined the squad, and newcomers Breonna Gross and Taylor Williams both earned freshman ACC honors.
Above:
Above
against San Diego.
Andy Jiang Wanyu Zhang | Seth Kessler | Morgan Chu
Karen Xu Anabel Howery | Tiffany Chen
Top left: Ngozi Iloh goes up for a block against Florida State.
Top middle: Jack Kovach races for Duke cross country.
Top right: Que'Sean Brown celebrates a reception against Wake Forest.
Middle left: Duke's defense runs out against Ole Miss.
Middle: The women's soccer team embraces after defeating Virginia.
Middle right: Midfielder Colton Pleasants plays against San Diego.
Adam Luckhurst moves the ball downfield
right: Running back Peyton Jones carries the ball against Miami.
Bottom left: Duke men's cross country places 11th at ACC Championships.
Bottom right: Kerry Keefe jumps up for a hit against Florida State.
Coaching legend Robbie Church makes a difference
By Elle Chavis Oct. 10, 2024
Robbie Church stood proudly smiling on the field at halftime, not in the locker room where he usually would be. Close to 30 former players had come back to Durham to celebrate alumni weekend for Duke women’s soccer. As each alumna stepped forward to be recognized, the packed stands of Koskinen Stadium erupted into cheers.
In the 23 years between his first team and his last team — this standout 2024 squad — Church built Duke women’s soccer into a national powerhouse, inspired and encouraged dozens of young women and left his mark — not only on Duke, but also on the women’s college and professional soccer world. Those cheers, really, were for him.
‘Always my dream job’
Late May, 2001, Franklin, Tennessee. Church, his wife and their two children lived in the little town just outside of Vanderbilt University, where Church served as women’s soccer’s head coach. An unexpected call from 500 miles away was about to interrupt quiet life in the town for Church and his family.
The call came from Bill Hempen, then the head women’s soccer coach at Duke. He rang to tell Robbie that he planned to take a new job at the University of Colorado, leaving Hempen’s job at Duke open. He wanted Church as his successor.
“I think about it once in a while,” Church said. “I’m not sure if it wasn’t Duke, would I have ever left Vanderbilt.”
But the call was from Duke, and Church accepted Hempen’s offer, taking the first step towards a position that would last for the next 23 years and impact countless lives along the way.
One could say that Church’s journey with soccer was always destined to end at Duke. He grew up in Greensboro, N.C., not far from Duke’s campus. He has always been a Duke fan.
Church’s uncle used to pick him up to take him to Duke football and basketball games when he was a child. Though it was football and basketball that Church grew to love as a fan, it was soccer that he loved as a player and eventually as a coach.
Before Church became a head coach, he was a player. Church cultivated a love for the game that took him all the way through college at Pfeiffer University. When the time came to graduate,
moving into the coaching sphere seemed like the logical next step for Church. With that in mind, he enrolled in a coaching course with the United States Soccer Federation.
“I actually thought it was where we just came and played,” Church said with a smile across his face. “I went in there and just took my ball and my cleats. I didn’t take a notebook or pens.”
While at the course — once he learned there were actual classroom sessions involved — Church met Frank Kohlenstein, who eventually became the first of his mentors and gave him his first chance in the world of coaching college soccer.
Kohlenstein coached for the men’s soccer team at the University of South Carolina Spartanburg — now Upstate — and offered Church a job as his assistant coach. After a year learning under Kohlenstein, Church left for his first head coaching job at East Carolina.
“I was 23 and felt [like] I could take over the world,” he reminisced.
Church spent two years at East Carolina before “the biggest thing in [his] life” happened.
John Rennie, a renowned Duke men’s soccer coach, extended Church an offer to be an assistant coach. In 1984, he spent only one season with Duke. Church credits that experience for laying the groundwork for many of the relationships he had when he returned years later. That year, he met Hempen. When Church left for the head coaching job at Belmont Abbey, he passed on his job to him. Seventeen years down the line, Hempen repaid the favor.
By 2001, Church’s coaching resume had grown lengthy. After 12 years of coaching
men’s soccer, Church had shifted to the women’s game — first at Charlotte, then at Vanderbilt. Over at Duke, after four years as an assistant coach for the men’s team, Hempen founded a women’s soccer program. When it was Church’s turn, he became the second head coach in the program’s history.
“North Carolina’s home, and we always wanted to come back,,” Church said. “Duke was my dream job. It was always my dream job.”
‘A fear of failure’
Having taken over the job from Hempen in late May, the start of June meant an immediate jump into preseason for Church and his new team.
“It's always a little daunting when somebody comes in that doesn't know the well-oiled machine,” said Kasey Truman, who was a senior and a captain on the 2001 squad.
Some Blue Devils knew Church from when he had coached for the South Region at the Olympic Development Program, or from when he had attempted to recruit them at his former head coaching gigs. But to many of them, Church was a stranger.
“There was a fear of failure,” Church admitted. “It was what really motivated me.”
Despite that fear of failure, despite all of the nerves and apprehensions that came along with becoming head coach of a program with only one coach before him, Church persevered. He walked into his first preseason as he walks into all things: leading with his heart.
SEE WOMEN'S SOCCER ON PAGE 9
A STAR IS BORN
Duke football completes 20-point comeback against North Carolina to stay undefeated on the season
By Dom Fenoglio Sept. 28, 2024 Senior Editor
What a difference a week makes. Better yet, what a difference a half makes.
Last time out, the Blue Devils poured in 45 points against Middle Tennessee and North Carolina gave up 70 to James Madison. In Durham Saturday, the Tar Heels’ defense came out with something to prove, holding Duke scoreless and forcing six first-half punts. But after stifling the Duke offense in the first half, graduate running back Star Thomas ran up and down the field to bring the Blue Devils back to life and secure a 21-20 win, the program’s first against North Carolina since 2018.
"We talked about it at halftime, that we had a chance to do something legendary, and that would require all of our belief in ourselves and in each other," head coach Manny Diaz said. "...We challenged our offensive line and our defensive line at halftime to take over the game, and I thought, without a shadow of a doubt, that's exactly what happened."
It was Peyton Jones, though, who broke off the next run. The sophomore took an inside handoff and sidestepped his way through the Tar Heel defense to run untouched into the end zone and give Duke a 21-20 lead.
“[Strength coach David Feeley] basically trains us to take [the opponent] into the sewer and finish games,” Graduate wideout Eli Pancol said. “We work [in the] fourth quarter better than any team in the nation, and that's what Coach Diaz installs in us every single day.”
We work [in the] fourth quarter better than any team in the nation.
ELI PANCOL WIDE RECIEVER
The first 40 minutes of the game m ight as well have not happened when the Tar Heels got the ball back with less than two minutes in the fourth. Duke’s defense, which had only allowed three second-half points to that moment, needed a stop.
Graduate quarterback Jacolby Criswell was able to evade pressure repeatedly, however, and bring his team within 25 yards of field-goal range. At that point, the Blue Devils ratcheted up the pressure even more, attempting to force poor decisions from the signal caller.
As if on cue, safety Jaylen Stinson got home and hit Criswell while he was throwing. The ball’s flight wobbled over the middle of the field long enough for linebacker Tre Freeman to snag it and clinch the win.
Earlier in the third, Duke reignited the home crowd with some flashy offensive moves. Despite struggles in the passing game all afternoon, star wideout Jordan Moore hauled in a jump ball deep in North Carolina territory. He stopped his route and high-pointed the ball perfectly, with his elbow landing just in-bounds. Thomas converted on a fourth down a few plays later, and the Blue Devils were in the red zone heading into the final period of play. To start the fourth, the two rivals traded a pair of key penalties: A holding call brought back a Thomas touchdown run, but a pass interference in the end zone set Duke up on the 2-yard line. Thomas would not be denied this time around, as he danced around a few blocks untouched for his second score.
The Blue Devils needed a whole lot of things to change in the second half. The defense did its job in forcing a quick punt. In what appeared to be a spectacular special teams play, Duke blocked the punt, but bobbled it while trying to recover the loose ball. When the Tar Heels finally fell on it, they were rewarded with a fresh set of downs.
Thomas who finally got the gears turning for Duke’s offensive machine. The New Mexico State transfer snapped off a few angry runs before finally putting the Blue Devils on the scoreboard.
On second-and-long, Thomas caught a pass behind the line of scrimmage and immediately burst towards the sidelines. He streaked past the first-down marker and tip-toed his way down the sideline to find the end zone and breathe life back into Wallace Wade Stadium.
That move was a stark contrast from the first half, where the Blue Devils were met with more resistance from the Tar Heel defense. Furthermore, Duke’s defense had to contend with the fact that North Carolina was dominating the time-of-possession battle. None of the Blue Devils’ first four drives took longer than two minutes, and junior running back Omarion Hampton seemed to grow stronger and stronger with each successive series.
The fatigue showed midway through the second quarter, as two consecutive offsides penalties bailed the Tar Heels out on third down. Criswell found senior tight end Bryson Nesbit in the end zone for his second passing touchdown of the game, extending the North Carolina lead to 17-0.
In their final possession of the first half, the Blue Devils opted to go for it on fourth-and-6 just inside North Carolina territory. A pass interference call bailed out Duke on a broken play, but the home team could not capitalize. Junior kicker Todd Pelino’s 47-yard try hit off the crossbar, sending the Blue Devils into the locker room trailing by 17.
Before the Blue Devils even had a first down, the Tar Heels had 10 points. A touchdown pass to J.J. Jones and a 40-yard field goal gave the visitors an early lead.
That play sucked the life out of an already emotionally depleted home crowd, and the numerous fans who made the trip from Chapel Hill erupted in response. A fourth-down holding call against North Carolina stalled its drive in the red zone, but this
The Blue Devils flipped the game on its head by taking the lead in the fourth, and forced North Carolina — for the first time all day — to play from behind. This breathed new life into the Duke defense, which engaged with the fans frequently in an attempt to confuse the Tar Heels. The strategy worked, as the blitz was suc cessful on three straight plays to force yet another punt.
not before the Tar Heels tacked on three more.
fense, it was
When the Blue Devils got the ball back, the plan was simple: feed the hot hand. They started the drive with sixstraight handoffs to Thomas — good for 32 yards. On the game’s most crucial third down, though, Thomas came up a yard short of the marker. Duke had to trust its defense to win the game.
Murphy struggled to find a rhythm in the pocket, as the Texas transfer missed on his first four pass attempts. The young signal caller made just his sixth career start Saturday, and his first in front of a sellout crowd at Duke. However, despite this first-half performance, Murphy made some key throws in the second half to lead the Blue Devils to victory. "It doesn't matter what happens, we're gonna keep on trusting him," Pancol said of Murphy. "Everybody in the locker room trusts him. Coaches trust him. I trust him. He trusts himself, that's the most important part."
After three quarters in which North Carolina was almost always in control, the Blue Devils seemed to have everything go ing their way to start the fourth. Even a few big offensive plays from the Tar Heels didn’t seem to matter, as Duke stood strong just inside its own territory. And despite surrendering a turnover on downs, the Blue Devils took advantage of a holding and unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on the same play to get the ball right back.
A shanked punt gave Duke yet another break, as it started at the 50-yard line with 7:31 remaining, down 20-14. The spark plug was once again Star Thom as, who juked his way for 35 yards over two plays.
‘Play the next play’: The mindset redefining Duke football’s success
By Abby DiSalvo
Nov. 22, 2024
Sports Editor
Jordan Moore offered the first glimpse of Duke football’s new identity in a nearlyempty Northwestern press conference room.
The clock crept past 1 a.m., as the graduate wide receiver settled into his chair. He had just helped secure a double-overtime road win against the Wildcats, and the Blue Devils stood 2-0 on the season. But as the rustling wind and darkened windows would suggest, gameplay had been tense. Near the end of regulation, Moore missed a potentially momentum-changing deep pass from quarterback Maalik Murphy — a failed play that ultimately forced the Duke to kick a field goal and head to overtime.
The Blue Devils emerged victorious in Evanston two touchdowns later — and Moore redeemed himself by securing one of them with a 25-yard reception — but his press room focus was gratitude, not glory.
“I'm just so blessed and so appreciative that my coaches give me opportunities, even when some plays don't really go my way,” Moore said. “Maalik made a great throw and I should have come down with it ... I'm just so happy that we won.”
In his short five minutes behind the press room microphone, mindset was all Moore spoke about. His note on team culture captured a relentless spirit that had characterized that game, and eventually, his team’s season.
“Coach Diaz always preaches ‘play the next play,'" Moore said. “I'm just so happy that we can be a part of a team where if somebody's lacking, another person can pick it up. Nobody ever points fingers. We always keep playing, and we're a family.”
Fast forward to the loss against SMU, when a 2-point conversion at the end of the first overtime period didn’t go Duke’s way. The defense had arguably carried throughout
the night, while special teams lapses and offensive struggles hindered the Blue Devils’ ability to capitalize on turnovers. Kendy Charles, who recorded a season-high and team-high 11 tackles on the night, could have walked into the press conference deflated and angry. Instead, the graduate student’s disappointment came with a side of humble optimism.
“I feel like we are a strong enough team,” he said. “We have great bonding, great culture. We will bounce back from this ... [and] just uphold the culture and the standard, that brotherhood we built over the summer in sweat and tears.”
For a player that had just come within inches of a potentially season-shifting upset, the comment displayed a poignant wisdom. Charles spoke about supporting kicker Todd Pelino, who had missed two crucial field goals and an extra point. He emphasized the defense’s quest to keep improving. Though the graduate student’s comments carried a hint of sadness, they were notably free of regret.
“Even though we had success on defense, I'm sure there's something we can fix,” Charles said. “We’re just trying to master the little things, and that's what we take pride in.”
Press conference after press conference, win after loss, the Blue Devils’ new mindset began to echo through the voices of its play ers. A burgeoning sense of identity had clearly arrived in Durham.
The shift filtered in from the top down, with new head coach Manny Diaz bringing Duke both a reputation for defensive success and a holistic ap proach to the game’s character. His emphasis on a mentality and grit soon seeped into player attitudes.
“Everybody thinks about football with physical toughness, and that’s certainly a large part of it, but as im portant, if not more so, is mental and emotional toughness,” Diaz said at the start of the season.
The former Penn State defensive coordinator earned unwavering determination from his new players by making an early distinction between wins and accomplishments.
“We talked about trying to not confuse success with excellence,” Diaz said. “I feel like greatness comes in the same way, to not confuse success with greatness.”
Duke football took the mission to heart, delivering a mystifying 7-3 record of storybook finishes and statistical anomalies to open the season. The team entered the fourth quarter of its season more unpredictable than ever. But though season turbulence at first muddied potential definitions of the Diaz era, the team’s new identity shone in its heart and perseverance.
believed,” he said after the defeat. “They really believed that they could win the football game, and they played like it.”
Nobody ever points fingers. We always keep playing, and we're a family.
JORDAN MOORE WIDE RECIEVER
The benefit of that strong new mentality — as opposed to a spotless record — lies in longevity. Duke football’s unyielding spirit now has foundations that will last through future seasons, thanks to young classes fully invested in team culture.
When former head coach Mike Elko departed, any chance of a future nine-win campaign seemed slim. Transfer portal chaos, coaching uncertainties and a turbulent offseason threatened to stall the program’s growing momentum. Then came Diaz — and with him, a new emphasis on community building. The Blue Devils were not only back, but determined to prove themselves better.
The recruiting benefits speak for themselves. Duke’s incoming 2025 class remains one of the best in school history, and it holds the highest-ranked recruit to ever sign with the school — 4-star defensive end Bryce Davis, who flipped from Clemson earlier this year.
The
Even when games began ending in defeat — such as Duke’s Week 10 loss to then-No.
Duke’s current freshmen, meanwhile, have proven themselves on the field. Redshirt freshman wide receiver Que’Sean Brown already tallied 308 receiving ywards and two touchdowns on the season. His classmate, safety DaShawn Stone, boasts 42 tackles and a forced fumble against both UConn and SMU. For the young Blue Devils, team identity clearly entails a quiet and uncompromising fight for greatness.
5 Miami — Diaz made sure to pair any setbacks with a silver lining. After all, it was the Blue Devils’ fresh mindset that allowed them to play toeto-toe with increasingly tougher opponents.
“I was proud because our guys
“I don't feel like we get the respect that we deserve,” Brown said. “But with hard work and talent, it's gonna show. We don't have to keep talking about it. We'll show it.”
Diaz’s squad has proven that its new identity outshines any record. Characteristic tenacity and grit will carry the Blue Devils into a new era of Duke football.
numbers behind Manny Diaz's first season
WOMEN'S SOCCER
FROM PAGE 5
“Our respect for him came from how caring he was,” said Gwendolyn Oxenham, who played for Church all four years of her college career. “He was like the Southern dad figure where you knew that he cared about you as a human as a player.”
What also came along with that Southern warmth and hospitality was Church’s accent, toned by a childhood and life in the South.
“He’s got such a Southern accent,” Stefanie Golan, who was a senior when Church first arrived in Durham, joked. “There were times where he’s yelling at you and you’re like, are you saying ‘step’ or are you saying ‘stop’?”
He quickly won over his players, but Church still had a difficult first few years. Even though he had inherited an experienced roster, the team posted a losing record for the 2001 season.
“I was like, oh my God, I can't get fired from this thing,” Church said of his mindset at the time.
But the young coach and his feisty team steadily built their presence in the NCAA women’s soccer ranks. His struggles only provided Church with more motivation to work harder as he sought to give Duke women’s soccer a national presence.
Perseverance eventually paid off. By the time Church’s 10-year anniversary at Duke rolled around in 2011, the Blue Devils had at least qualified for the NCAA tournament every year since 2003. In that anniversary season for Church, he led his team to the Women’s College Cup, setting a program record with 22 wins along the way. Although the Blue Devils
eventually fell in the College Cup Final, to Stanford, that season set the precedent for Duke women’s soccer as a national presence and saw Church win the ACC Coach of the Year award.
‘More than just a coach to player’
Putting together a group of 20-30 collegeaged women into a team capable of winning championships is not an easy feat, but Church’s natural ability to form connections with his players has made it look easy the past 23 years. A key part of that ability is the emphasis he places on turning his team into a family, a characteric Church has kept at the core of every Duke team he has coached.
“He's just instilled this idea of we're playing for something bigger than just our individual selves,” current graduate student Maggie Graham said. “We're playing for Duke. We're playing for each other.”
Former USWNT captain, Carla Overbeck, has worked as an assistant coach for the women’s soccer team since before Church came to Duke. Over the years, she has witnessed Church’s abilities to bring his players together as a family both on and off the field.
“He definitely preaches that we are a family first,” Overbeck said. “He gives them great examples and shows them how our Duke women's soccer team is indeed a family, and how we take care of people.”
Taking care of people has become a hallmark of Church’s leadership style. Both alumni and current players agree that he never fails to recognize that they are more than just soccer players.
“The relationships that he’s built with us — it’s more than just a coach to a player. It’s a person to person,” current Duke sophomore, Cameron Roller, said.
‘Go through a brick wall for him’
Golan dealt with injuries throughout her college career, which ultimately kept her off the field for her senior season. That was the same year that Church became head coach, and he gave Golan the opportunity to help him develop and coach her underclassman teammates.
“What I took away was always striving to give players value in terms of whatever their role was,” Golan said. “The fact that he cares about you as a person, first and foremost, makes you want to go through a brick wall for him.”
The fierce loyalty and support Church provides extends even beyond the women he has coached to those who work for him as well. For the first few years that Church was head coach at Duke, Overbeck played for the Women’s United Soccer Association team, the Carolina Courage. His flexibility defined Overbeck’s experience as she worked as a coach, a player and a mother.
“He enabled me to continue to raise my kids and be a professional athlete while still holding down my job at Duke,” Overbeck said. “I’m not sure any other coach that I worked for would have done it quite like Robbie.”
The ability to inspire people to always strive to do their best can be rare, but Church has honed it through years of passion and enthusiasm for the game that has shaped so much of his life.
“Robbie’s passion was infectious,” Oxenham recalled. “He wanted to win, and he loved the game in such an earnest fashion that it was contagious.”
‘Everything I love about Duke’
There was a smile across Church’s face after the Oct. 6 game. Duke’s 3-1 win over Louisville was part of the reason; the program alumni
who had come back to Duke were the other part. Church enjoys following their lives, seeing the positive impact that they have made on the world after Duke. They, in turn, credit Church for the impact he has made on them.
“Robbie [Church] embodies everything I love about Duke,” alumna Casey Parker (formerly McCluskey) said. “We expect excellence on the field and in the classroom and as people. He embodies that and expects that of us.”
Just as Church inherited a veteran roster brimming with talent from his predecessor, he will pass down an exceptionally talented roster to his successor.
The 2024 team started the hard work of ensuring its beloved head coach’s wish for his last season comes true. The Blue Devils carried him over the threshold of winning 300 games and crossed one key item off of Church’s head coaching bucket list in beating North Carolina at home in Koskinen Stadium, something the program has never done in its 36 years of existence.
“I am the luckiest person in the world,” Church said of his 23 years at Duke and the 24 teams he has coached along the way. “It changes their lives. Duke changes people’s lives.”
ENJOY
TRACK AND FIELD
Simen Guttormsen crowned national champion
By Prithvi Kotapati
March 17, 2025 Associate Editor
He accelerated down the lane. Planted the stick in the ground. It bent backward, so close to a 90-degree angle it looked like it would snap. You could almost hear the loud crack, imagine shards of fiberglass splintering into the air— but it didn’t happen. All of a sudden, there was a blue and white blur blasting upward, narrowly gliding over a horizontal bar almost 19 feet up in the air. As his torso made brief contact with the bar, it dangerously wobbled and a hushed silence permeated the packed stadium.
But the bar stayed in place.
Simen Guttormsen landed on the mat and bounced right back up with his fist pumped in the air. The crowd went crazy. Personal record, facility record, ACC record: That’s how you win an NCAA championship.
Friday, two Blue Devils competed at the NCAA Division I Indoor Championships in Virginia Beach, Va. Graduate thrower Christian Johnson placed ninth with a throw of 22.47m, securing second-team All America honors. Pole vaulter Guttormsen cleared a personal best 5.71m to become the second-ever Blue Devil man to bring home an individual NCAA indoor championship.
“It's been 10 years since the last time we won one,” head coach Shawn Wilbourn said Sunday. “That just shows how difficult they are to win.”
Guttormsen began the day calm, clearing the starting height of 5.36m on his first attempt. From there, he passed on the second height —
the sole competitor to trust himself to do so. Within two attempts each, he cleared the next three levels, holding onto his calm as the other vaulters began to fail out and trickle away.
With the bar raised to 5.71m, only four men remained: Guttormsen and seniors Kobe Babin, Hunter Garretson and Kyle Rademeyer of South Florida, Akron and South Alabama, respectively. It was anyone’s game. Babin was in high spirits; he’d just scored a massive personal best to get to this point. And with the highest season marks of the four, Garretson or Radmeyer were the most likely, on paper, to win.
“It was pretty packed … it was hard to hear, and it was a great environment,” Wilbourn said.
As the pressure mounted, Guttormsen took his first attempt and failed. He’d never jumped this high before indoors. After Garretson and Radmeyer failed their first attempts too, they chose to pass — saving themselves for the next height. With two missed jumps in a row, Babin followed suit. But not Guttormsen.
Having nothing to lose, the Norwegian native took to the runway, sending it without hesitation. With a solid plant, he vaulted up high, narrowly clearing the bar at 5.71m. After setting an ACC record of 5.67m en route to a conference gold last week, Guttormsen had done it again, this time with an enormous personal best.
Wilbourn didn’t mince his words: “Simen is incredible,” he said.
The bar was (literally) raised yet again and the four men had another go. Yet none of them were able to clear the ambitious 5.76m, so with the highest vault of the competition,
Guttormsen became the 2025 NCAA pole vault champion.
After Guttormsen’s third place finish at the NCAA Outdoor Championship last year, his win wasn’t out of the blue. Still, the difference between bronze and gold is significant, and Wilbourn credits it to the strength of the program that includes other athletes, like Johnson.
“Every event it’s a battle, it's a fight,” Wilbourn said. “And [Christian] gave it his all and he came close.”
In the last indoor meet of his collegiate career, Johnson left with a ninth-place finish and second team All-American honors. He landed just 0.24m away from becoming a
first team All-American, an honest result for someone who came in as the 14th seed. It caps off an impressive season of school records and an ACC silver medal for the graduate. Soon, Johnson will take his talents to the hammer throw as he competes one last time for Duke this outdoor season. Wilbourn, for one, looks forward to it.
“We’re more of an outdoor team,” he said. He’s not wrong. The Blue Devils do have a strong presence in outdoor-specific events like the javelin, discus, hammer throw and 400m hurdles. They also have a number of redshirted athletes who will come out to compete.
on any planet
Photo Courtesy of Duke Athletics
Simen Guttormsen vaulted over a 5.71m bar to claim the national title.
The winter season saw the arrival of two star-studded basketball classes. Young talent from Cooper Flagg, Kon Knueppel and Khaman Maluach’s was complimented by the experience of transfers Maliq Brown, Sion James and returner Tyrese Proctor. Head coach Jon Scheyer’s squad went 35-4 in a historic season that included an ACC Championship title and Final Four appearance. Though the team's March Madness hopes were dashed by a heartbreaking Houston comeback, it was still a season to remember.
The women’s basketball team made its first Elite Eight appearance under head coach Kara Lawson, playing its way to a 29-8 record and ACC Championship title with relentless defense and a balanced offensive. Freshman phenom Toby Fournier joined Ashlon Jackson, Oluchi Okananwa, Reigan Richardson and Jadyn Donavon for a historic season in Cameron.
Duke pole vaulter Simen Guttormsen earned a national title at the indoor NCAA Championships, while the women’s 4x400m relay team set a new ACC Indoor Championship record.
WINTER
WINTER
In the pool, sophomore Kaelyn Gridley won the women’s 100yd breastroke at ACC Championships before finishing fourth in the same event at the NCAA Championships. Senior Margo O’Meara earned the team’s sole diving bid to the meet, finishing in 10th place.
Duke fencing took home second- and third-place team finishes at ACC Championships before securing 12th place at NCAAs. Redshirt sophomore wrestler Connor Barket managed to secure an NCAA bid despite a last-place finish for his team at the conference championships.
Top left: Kaelyn Gridley swims the 100yd breaststroke.
Top middle: Two Duke hurdlers compete in Chapel Hill.
Top right: Kon Knueppel shoots in the first half against Alabama.
Middle left: Foster, Ngongba and Gillis celebrate from the bench. Middle: Duke fences at the NCAA Championships. Middle right: Margo O'Meara earns Duke's sole NCAA diving bid.
Above: Gaetano Console takes his first career ACC win.
Above left: Men's basketball celebrates its Elite Eight win.
Bottom left: Simen Guttormsen pole vaults.
Bottom right: Toby Fournier shoots against Syracuse.
Crystal Han Andy Jiang Amy Zhang Eugene Cho
JERSEY DEVILS
No. 1-seed Duke men's basketball shuts down Alabama, advances to Final Four
By Rachael Kaplan
March 29, 2025 Senior Editor
NEWARK, N.J. — The Elite Eight:
It’s the hardest game to win, and the worst to lose, according to Duke head coach Jon Scheyer. One year after exiting the NCAA Tournament this very round, the Blue Devils wouldn’t let themselves face that heartbreak again.
No. 1-seed Duke prevailed against No. 2-seed Alabama Saturday night, winning 85-65 in a wire-towire victory to advance to Scheyer’s first Final Four as a head coach. Freshman Kon Knueppel paced the team with 21 points. Against the Crimson Tide’s high-powered offense, the Blue Devils relied on 2-pointers and lockdown defense, and it was more than enough.
five minute mark with a 14-point lead, its largest of the night.
While the Blue Devils extended their lead, the Crimson Tide went cold. At 8:03, Labaron Philon made a pair of free throws.
Alabama then missed seven attempts from the field as Maluach contested shot after shot. Sears and Philon both turned the ball over. In crunch time, Nate Oats’ squad had nothing. It went scoreless for 5:16, and without a field goal for 6:08.
"From day one, I think this group has been different," Scheyer said of his team after the game.
With 7:34 remaining in the game and a seven-point Blue Devil lead, Cooper Flagg scored his first points of the second half. The freshman drove in, shot clock ticking, and put up a floater on top of Mark Sears. It was perfect. After an empty Alabama possession, Tyrese Proctor lost his footing on a drive and somehow got the ball to Khaman Maluach, who went straight up for the dunk. The lead was back to 11 with less than seven minutes left between Duke and a Final Four.
"It was by committee. We were switching a lot, especially in the second half..." James said of the defensive plan for Sears. "The big thing for him was just showing him bodies."
the Sweet 16 win, Proctor stressed the trust his teammates have in each other. How they have each other’s backs. That couldn’t have been more true Saturday night.
Alabama attempted no shortage of threes, though that was not a surprise. The Crimson Tide were off their mark throughout the first half, connecting on just 5-of-19 3-pointers. Duke made the same number on just nine attempts, taking a 46-37 lead into the locker room.
Maliq Brown entered the contest with just more than four minutes remaining in the first half after Patrick Ngongba II picked up his second foul. He immediately contested a 3-point attempt by Sears and grabbed a difficult offensive board after Flagg’s layup was off the mark. The second-chance possession ended in a Caleb Foster triple, his first of the weekend. Scheyer confirmed Friday that Brown is not at 100%, and his usage is being reserved for emergencies, like the foul trouble the Blue Devils ended up in Thursday.
To start the second half, Maluach picked up a foul on an offensive rebound attempt, and Alabama converted its second try of the half from beyond the arc. Flagg finally found Maluach with the lob in response. That kicked off a series of misses from both sides, interrupted only by a layup from Proctor, until Sears finally made a 3-pointer. Knueppel banked a short jumper off the glass, and Youngblood did the same, drawing a foul in the process and making the free throw. That cut Duke’s lead to six, 52-46, until Maluach hammered through the paint for a dunk.
Duke’s quick hands and strong transition offense were some of its greatest assets in the first half. The team notched four steals, including a takeaway off Sears by Knueppel that set up a corner three for the freshman just under the 10-minute mark. That stretched the lead to 11, the first time it hit double digits. As the shot clock expired on the Crimson Tide’s next possession, Sears drove along the baseline and was met with the extended wingspan of 7-foot-2 Maluach, who batted Sears’ layup out of the air like a fly.
The Crimson Tide’s next possession was extended by a Sion James foul, though the Tulane transfer also grabbed Chris Youngblood’s miss to end it. After another Alabama miss, Duke hit the
Though he did total 10 points in the first half, Flagg was not his usual high-scoring self. The 6-foot-9 forward was blocked twice, and with 12:50 remaining and an eight-point lead, shot the ball right into the crevice between the rim and the backboard. He missed five layups. The Newport, Maine, native remained an assist and rebound threat, but it was clear that he wasn’t going to be good for 30 again.
From day one, I think this group has been different.
JON SCHEYER HEAD COACH
"It's not gonna be your night every night," Flagg said. "Just don't hang your head. Just keep playing hard... The rest of the guys got my back and are gonna make those plays."
Instead, Proctor and Knueppel led the offense. Both found success at the rim and in the midrange. The team relied on 2-point shots, and each guard delivered. In the second half, the two combined for 12 of Duke’s first 17 points. With its superstar having an off night, the backcourt stepped up. After
"We have a 7-foot-2 guy switching on to one of the best guards in the country, and he's doing a pretty good job moving his feet," Scheyer said of Maluach guarding Sears.
Sears was a phenomenon in the Sweet 16 against BYU. In the paint, Duke’s bigs (namely Maluach) towered over his 6-foot1 frame. He had three turnovers in the first half; Proctor and Knueppel’s perimeter defense got the best of him. Sears didn’t score for nearly 18 minutes, until converting a deep two. It was Aiden Sherrell who made two early treys for the Crimson Tide on back-to-back possessions.
However, even Sherrell’s threes only lessened a deficit. Duke led wire-to-wire and by as much as 20.
The Blue Devils advance to the Final Four for the first time since 2022.
"San Antonio sounds great," Scheyer said.
Amy Zhang | Photo Editor
RIVALRY RULED
No. 2-seed Duke women's basketball knocks off North Carolina in Sweet 16
By Martin Heintzelman March 28, 2025 Sports Managing Editor
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — In every year
of head coach Kara Lawson’s tenure thus far, Duke women’s basketball’s finish to the season has improved. Two years ago, it was a second-round exit of the NCAA Tournament. Last season, the Blue Devils went down to UConn in the Sweet 16.
She’s starting to run out of space.
Despite being just 20 minutes apart from each other, Duke and North Carolina faced off not at a venue in the two squads’ shared home state, but in Birmingham with a trip to the Elite Eight on the line.
The Blue Devils rode their stifling defense and crashed the boards en route to a 47-38 win against the Tar Heels, reaching the Elite Eight for the first time since 2013 and retiring several longtime foes in the process.
“Exactly how we expected the game to go. It's how these games are,” Lawson said after the game. “If you've watched these games over the last few years, it's competitive and really gritty, and I thought both teams played with great effort.”
Duke entered the fourth quarter up 37-32, and the final period was more of the same. The Tar Heels looked to Alyssa Ustby to lead them, although Lawson's defense did a better job shutting down the dynamic forward than it had in previous games. The Blue Devils collapsed on the graduate whenever she caught it down low, forcing jump balls and ugly shots. The Duke defense was out in force when it mattered, and the Blue Devils worked hard on the boards.
Jadyn Donovan grabbed more than one physical offensive rebound against tough competition, creating second chances against a Tar Heel squad that was now playing against the clock as much as against Duke.
The Tar Heels went on a 11-0 run to start the game; the Blue Devils were held scoreless through six minutes — shooting an uninspiring 0-for-9 from the field.
“I will be honest, I was worried down 11-0 if we would score at all in the game, but I don't think there has ever been a shutout in the tournament,” Lawson said. “ … I thought Vanessa changed the game when she came in. Just her fearlessness attacking, ball screen action, getting to the rim and loosening up their defense to give us confidence and her composure running the team was huge.”
Duke showed some life late in the period, as forward Jordan Wood got the offense going with some free throws and a jump shot while freshman Toby Fournier helped out down low. After a de Jesus layup to end the quarter, it was a 13-9 game in favor of North Carolina.
half with consecutive threes, but Duke was in the driver’s seat. Okananwa fired back with two deep shots of her own, and it was 28-20 at half in favor of the Blue Devils. Duke had gone on a 28-9 run to close out the first 20.
I think what you're chasing is more important than who you have to go through.
That’s when the Blue Devils made their run. It was a low-scoring second period, too. Neither team had found the bucket by the seven-minute mark, until de Jesus caught one at the elbow and buried it. Delaney Thomas followed that up with some bully ball down low to tie the game at 13 apiece.
Graduate guard Vanessa de Jesus continued to have herself a game, racking up the assists as well as points. She drove to the basket, finding Ashlon Jackson open on the perimeter to push the lead to 12 points. The Blue Devils took a 10-2 run to gain separation and prevent any hopes of a Tar Heel comeback. While North Carolina pushed back late with strong defense and tough baskets, it wasn’t enough. Fittingly, Duke gathered three consecutive offensive rebounds late to run down the clock, and that was all she wrote.
On the next North Carolina trip down the floor, Duke forced the Tar Heels to run down the shot clock, then swarmed guard Lanie Grant to snatch the ball. Reigan Richardson dropped off a bounce pass at the other end for guard Oluchi Okananwa, and she gave Duke the lead. Emma Koabel drew a charge then forced a travel from Ustby on back-to-back trips down the floor as the Blue Devil bench exploded heading into the media timeout.
The Tar Heels were scoreless for 7:29. To make matters worse for head coach Courtney Banghart’s squad, 6-foot-3 forward Maria Gakdeng injured her ankle in the second quarter and was limited the rest of the way.
“[Gakdeng] is a rim protector, she is an elite rebounder and she is your late clock,” Banghart said. “When you lose Maria late in the game, that's a big loss.”
The run continued into the latter half of the period, led largely by de Jesus. A player who has not scored with much regularity after missing all of last season with an injury, she already had eight points in the half. North Carolina battled back to end the
The second half started strong as the Blue Devils moved the ball well against a new-look 1-2-2 zone defense. Jackson found Thomas down low for the easy lay. From there, the defense continued to shine. Donovan played strong down low, picking up two early blocks on Gakdeng and Ustby. As the quarter went on, the resistance from North Carolina got stronger. A deep bucket from Kelly shrank the lead back to just four points, and Fournier traveled on the other end to up the pressure on Duke. Grant took Blue Devil guard Taina Mair on in isolation and got the tough bucket, making it a one-possession game. This time, it was Jackson to the rescue. She took the ball up the court and buried a three without hesitation to push it back to five points by the end of the quarter. Regardless, it was clear this one would be neck-and-neck down the stretch, but the Blue Devils emerged ahead. While it may have made the win better for fans, the rivalry never crossed Lawson’s mind.
“I think what you're chasing is more im portant than who you have to go through,” Lawson said. “… We try to focus on that. We have great respect for them and great respect for every team we've played, but I've always felt like that focus is it's best to do your job, not worry about who, but wor ry about what you need to do to win.”
imwe've wor-
Nicole Nie Staff Photographer
KARA LAWSON HEAD COACH
Defensive rebounding, guarding the 3-point line hurt Duke men's basketball in Final Four loss to Houston
By Ranjan Jinal April 6, 2025 Senior Editor
SAN ANTONIO — Houston foreshadowed the story of the game on its first scoring possession.
Emanuel Sharp launched his patented high-arching triple from 25 feet but couldn't connect. Because of switching on the play, junior guard Tyrese Proctor was on Houston center J’Wan Roberts, who came away with the offensive rebound.
As they say, the best 3-point shot is off an offensive rebound. Roberts found veteran guard LJ Cryer on the right wing, who buried the first of his six triples on the evening.
Kelvin Sampson's teams are known for their elite defensive ability, and the pressure the Cougars play with makes the opposition extremely uncomfortable. But this year, the difference has been its offensive prowess — particularly from deep and on the glass.
Following the performance Saturday, Houston is No. 1 in the country in 3-point percentage and 10th in offensive rebound rate. Yes, the late-game execution and missed free throws hurt the Blue Devils in their 7067 loss, but failing to clear the defensive glass and giving the Cougars open looks paved the way for a Houston comeback.
Duke head coach Jon Scheyer tried to fix the Roberts problem throughout the entire
first half, switching out bigs Maliq Brown and Patrick Ngongba II — which did help starting center Khaman Maluach get rest. But despite the six-inch height advantage for Maluach on Roberts, he could not ever seem to get comfortable on the defensive end. Roberts had four offensive rebounds in the first half — Maluach did not record a board in the game — and continued to provide second chances for his teammates throughout the contest.
For the majority of the game, the Duke offense played particularly well against a pesky Houston defense. With its offball screens, re-screening for guards
Tyrese Proctor and Kon Knueppel and the connectivity that has defined this team’s season thus far, the Blue Devils counteracted the pressure through their well-executed sets.
Despite that, the team entered halftime up only six after three triples in the final two minutes from Cryer and Milos Uzan. The Cougars shot only 37.7% from the field but 10-of-22 from deep.
“We had some really uncharacteristic communication breakdowns with him to give [Cryer] some open looks,” Scheyer said. “Once a guy like that sees it go in, he's been in this moment
before, a heck of a competitor, a bigtime scorer.”
And after multiple Houston attempts to cut the game close — bolstered by Cryer heroics from deep — it looked as though Duke would be able to gain separation. Sion James cut twice to the basket for easy finishes off of double teams, and two Cooper Flagg free throws gave the Blue Devils a 56-42 lead.
However, on Houston’s next possession, friendly fire between James and Flagg allowed Joseph Tugler to come up with an offensive rebound and kick it out to Sharp for a three. For everything that Roberts did in the first half, Tugler replicated in the second. He had five offensive rebounds in that half and was the force that kept the Cougars’ furious comeback attempt possible.
“We could talk about not scoring down the stretch. For me it's our defense. We gave up 42 points in the second half,” Scheyer said. “I thought the last segment to close the half was big. We gave them four threes and then some uncharacteristic plays we probably made. They hit some tough shots. For me, as I reflect in the moment, I look at our defense. That was disappointing. Even if we're not scoring, usually we get stops to get separation.”
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Alyssa Ting | Staff Photographer Cooper Flagg and Tyrese Proctor make drives towards the basket.
Duke fencing performs at ACC Championships, women finish second, men third
By Dean Harder Feb. 25, 2025 Staff Writer
The Duke fencing team made a strong statement on the opening day of the ACC Championships, with junior saberist Kunling Tong earning a silver medal in the women’s individual competition and the men’s team fighting to a hard-earned third-place finish inside North Carolina’s Eddie Smith Field House. On the second day, the Blue Devils continued to shine, with épéeist Allen Marakov securing a bronze medal in the men’s individual competition. The women’s team finished a close second in the team event, narrowly falling to Notre Dame for the ACC Championship.
Day 1: Men’s team, women’s individual Kunling Tong took center stage for Duke in the women’s individual saber event, turning in the best ACC Championships performance of her career. After finishing eighth in 2023 and 11th in 2024, she came into this year’s tournament with something to prove — and she delivered. Tong cruised through pool play with seven victories, earning the No. 2 seed, then dispatched teammate Victoria Gorman, 15-9, in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, she showed her composure under pressure, outlasting Notre Dame’s Lola Possick, 15-11, before falling to Magda Skarbonkiewicz, 15-9, in the gold-medal bout.
“Going in [Kunling] had a very good regular season indicator, so we were going in confident that she would have a good performance and she came through,” head coach Omar Elgeziry said. “She knows what it takes to put up results like this, so I think she rose to the occasion.”
Beyond Tong’s silver-medal finish, Duke’s saber squad put its depth on display. Three Blue Devils reached the quarterfinals, with Gorman and Natalie Olsen — who entered as the No. 4 seed — both making deep runs before being stopped by eventual champion Skarbonkiewicz.
Duke saw mixed results in the foil and épée events, though several fencers made strong pushes. Charlotte Koenig and Sophia Shen
advanced out of pool play in foil before bowing out in the quarterfinals, while senior épée captain Rachel Kowalsky fought her way into the knockout rounds before falling to eventual champion Eszter Muhari of Notre Dame.
The men’s team’s resilience was on full display throughout a grueling first day of competition. Duke found itself on the wrong side of three straight heartbreakers, falling to North Carolina, Notre Dame and Stanford — all by the narrowest of margins, 14-13. Each match came down to the wire, with the Blue Devils pushing some of the country’s top teams to the limit but coming up just short.
Despite the early setbacks, Duke rebounded in its final match of the day, grinding out a 15-12 victory over No. 12 Boston College. On the day, Dayaal Singh, William Holz, and Samir Travers led the way, each tallying seven individual victories for Duke keeping them in contention for the championship. In foil, Joseph Glasson and Owen Li turned in steady performances, while épéeists Allen Marakov and Peyton Young provided key contributions to the team’s narrow victories.
Day 2: Men’s individual, women’s team Duke men’s best individual result came from Marakov, who earned a bronze medal with a composed and tactical performance. Known for his patience on the strip, Marakov showcased a clean and elegant fencing style, often waiting for the perfect opening before striking. His approach was on full display in a dominant preliminary bout against North Carolina’s Boris Muga, where he executed a flawless 5-0 rout in just 1:18.
“Allen qualified twice last year and was a NCAA finalist,” said Coach Elgeziry. “We walked into the competition with the mindset that this was just the preparation for regionals and we would like to get a good result. We will restructure our plan and continue to work on small things that will add up to bigger things.”
Meanwhile, freshman saberist Lev Ermakov delivered an impressive showing in his first
Andy Jiang Sports Photo Editor Duke fencing went on to secure a 12th-place finish at NCAA Championships.
SPRING SPRING
In the regular season, women's tennis went undefeated both at home and within the conference for an impressive 16-game mid-season win streak. At one point, the team earned the No. 3 national ranking. Head coach Jamie Ashworth's squad made it all the way to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament before falling to Georgia. The men’s tennis team finished 19-9 overall for its part, posting competitive matches before early exits in both postseason tournaments.
Women’s lacrosse made its own appearance in the NCAA Quarterfinals after pulling off two decisive victories against James Madison and Virginia. The team had an up-and-down regular season and did not qualify for the ACC Tournament, but found rhythm at the right moment for its postseason run. Men’s lacrosse struggled a bit throughout the season but advanced to the title game of the ACC Championships before exiting the NCAA Tournament in the first round.
At the time of this publication, multiple spring sports are still competing. Many offer promising signs of a postseason run:
Softball posted high-scoring run-rule victories throughout the season, riding a balanced offensive and shutout pitching to a 37-15 regular-season record. After an ACC Semifinals exit, the team made it all the way to Game 7 of the Durham Regional before falling out of the NCAA Tournament to Georgia.
Baseball finished an underwhelming regular season with a 36-18 conference record. The Blue Devils managed to sweep Virginia on the road for the first time in program history and upset then-No. 9 Clemson on the road, but dropped several other crucial contests. They head into the postseason looking to put all the pieces together.
Women’s golf missed the NCAA Championships for just the fourth time in 30 years, but Bryan Kim punched his individual ticket for the men’s team. Rowing recorded solid finishes against a host of ranked opponents throughout the season before heading into the postseason, and Duke’s outdoor track and field athletes continued to smash program records in preparation for NCAA competition after the men took home an ACC title.
Middle
Carly Bernstein scored 46 goals on the season.
Middle: Irina Balus and Ellie Coleman play doubles against Bryant.
4x400m relay.
Andrew Li Alex Long | Andy Jiang | Ura Zhang | Thomas Han
Top left: Andrew Healy pitches against Virginia Tech.
Top middle: Patrick Jameison makes a save against North Carolina.
Top right: Kairi Rodriguez celebrates a run for Duke softball.
left:
Middle right: Aliya Garozzo finishes a women's
Above: Duke rowers compete at the Lake Wheeler Invitational.
Above right: Outfielder Tyler Albright scoops up a ground ball.
Bottom left: Jackson Walker runs a relay leg at the Duke Invitational.
Bottom right: Andreja Petrovic hits a serve for Duke against Stanford.
Duke baseball clinches series against Virginia Tech with 14-0 shutout win
By Caleb Dudley April 27, 2025 Sports Multimedia Editor
Leave no doubt — that is exactly what Duke baseball did after two extra-innings contests left a home series with Virginia Tech knotted at one game apiece. In a Sunday rubber match, the Blue Devils clicked on all cylinders. A 14-0 win was driven by two grand slams from Sam Harris and AJ Gracia, while an efficient start from freshman Henry Zatkowski on the bump helped the Blue Devils reach 30 wins for the 12th time under head coach Chris Pollard.
“I thought it was a great response by our club … You’re a little bit depleted so you know you gotta have some guys step up, and I thought it was just a great step-up performance by Henry Zatkowski. And then our offense really got going,” Pollard said.
Exiting a rain delay Saturday, Duke had the bases loaded in the third inning with a 7-0 lead and one of its best sluggers in Ben Miller at the dish. The Durham native squandered his chance to extend the lead with two outs, and the visitors eventually clawed all the way back to a victory.
A similar situation presented itself Sunday: two outs, bottom of the third, bases loaded and dangerous Sam Harris up to bat. After falling behind 0-2, the sophomore fought off a few tough pitches to bide himself some time. Then, he finally caught hold of an offering from Preston Crowl, giving the 2-2 over the
right-field wall for a grand slam that avenged the miscue from the day prior and made the lead six.
“What a job by Sam Harris. I can’t say enough about how Sam has grown as a player over his time in our program. It's really fun to watch,” Pollard said.
Miller did plenty by himself to make up for the aforementioned out, as he racked up three RBIs in the first four innings behind a sacrifice fly, his 18th home run of the season and a double in the rightcenter gap. The last of the trio made the game 7-0 and chased one of Virginia Tech’s best arms, Crowl, out of the game.
After a grand slam from AJ Gracia — who seems to be regaining his freshman form — Duke was rolling with a 11-0 lead. Three more runs courtesy of singles from Clark and Gracia put the exclamation point on the blowout victory.
It seemed as if the fatigue from back-to-back extra-inning thrillers had worn on the Blacksburg, Va., team. The Blue Devils were able to manufacture offense early, but they received ample help from the visitors. The Hokies failed to communicate on defense and allowed the ball to hit the turf for a double after Wallace Clark led off the contest with what seemed to be a shallow pop fly to right field. It set the stage for two consecutive deep flies that brought the shortstop home. A second-inning error by the second baseman followed by an errant throw on a steal attempt only reinforced this theory.
Virginia Tech’s fielding eventually returned to form, and it became Duke who struggled in that department. The top of the fifth inning saw two poor plays from Clark and Noah Murray on
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ground balls, allowing the Hokies to load the bases and forcing Zatkowski to exit the game. Mark Hindy inherited the jam, but emphatically struck out Henry Cooke on three pitches to end the inning. Clark made a throwing error in the top of the sixth, but Hindy was able to work around it yet again. He spun three strikeouts on the day as he and Reid Easterly handled the rest of the game.
Zatkowski took the mound for the Blue Devils Sunday as they looked to clinch the series. The Clarksville, Md., native was sharp through 4.2 innings and 87 pitches. Outside of a handful of well-hit balls that fell just foul of being home runs — one was so close it prompted video review — Zatkowski limited hard contact as he allowed just two hits. He also showed excellent command of his offspeed, highlighted by a front-door slider that froze David McCann to end the fourth frame.
“He was below the barrel today, and got a lot of ground-ball contact. We would have been happy with four [innings], they were starting to figure him out right there in the fifth. He kept pounding the strike zone, and I’m really proud of his maturity,” Pollard said.
The second game of the series was a tale of two halves. After jumping out to a six-run lead in the bottom of the first, the game was delayed for an hour and 22 minutes due to lightning in the area. AJ Gracia drew a walk
to bring in another tally after the break, but the stoppage seemed to shift the tides.
Virginia Tech parlayed a five-run fifth into a three-run sixth frame to take an 8-7 lead, putting Duke into a surprise hole after the hot start. The Blue Devils tied it on a Ben Miller single, but simply ran out of gas in the eleventh as the visitors tied the series.
Andy Jiang | Sports Photo Editor Duke's Macon Winslow approaches second base.
Duke women's tennis slides past Auburn 4-2, advances to NCAA Quarterfinals
By Anna Newberry
May 11, 2025
Associate Editor
Two hours after its first chance to seal victory, Duke had simultaneous match points. Sophomore Eleana Yu and freshman Liv Hovde were in unison, locked in a race to see who would deliver the clinching point. Hovde narrowly missed her chance, dropping her tiebreaker match point, but Yu sealed the victory with an intense deuce point to win 6-4, 5-7, 7-5.
I’m so proud of all the girls on my team. Everyone has been working so hard,” Yu said. “It’s satisfying knowing that it’s culminating into a result.”
No. 8 Duke defeated No. 9 Auburn 4-2 on Friday evening in the NCAA Super Regionals to advance and play Georgia in the Elite Eight. Though the Blue Devils de veloped a commanding 3-0 lead, Au burn held Duke off, forcing the three remaining singles matches into third sets.
Doubles came down to court two as Yu also clinched the doubles point for Duke. After holding serve for the first four games, Auburn broke through Shavit Kimchi’s serve 2-3, but the Blue Devils forced a deuce point, breaking right back, 3-3. Trading service games the rest of the match, Kimchi and Yu capitalized on two doubles faults in a row from Auburn to win the match and clinch the doubles point with a break, 7-5.
“The importance of doubles showed there at the end. I thought we gained some great momentum, I knew it was gonna be a fight,” head coach Jamie Ashworth said.
Kimchi and Coleman gave Duke its 3-0 lead, as they both won nine games in a row to defeat their respective opponents 6-3, 6-0.
tum swung back towards Auburn as Hovde flinched slightly in her match against fourthranked DJ Bennett on court one.
After winning her first set, 6-4, Hovde was up 5-3 in the second set, serving for the match twice before dropping the set in a 6-8 tiebreaker. She found herself in a similar position in the third set, garnering a 5-2 lead before Bennett, the 2025 NCAA singles runner-up, was able to push it to another tiebreaker. Hovde, in her tight contest, had five match points.
“We can't change how we're playing because of the scores,” said Ashworth. “These girls have hit a million balls in their lives. They need to trust the work they've put in ... They have to believe in themselves and trust themselves and trust the moment.”
I thought we gained some great momentum, I knew it was gonna be a fight.
JAMIE ASHWORTH HEAD COACH
With her last home appearance, Coleman has now won 15 straight singles matches and remains undefeated this season on court six in singles.
For doubles, it was a mat ter of who would break first, as neither team had a service break until late in the tight 54-minute doubles competition.
The Tigers collected the first service break of the match on court one, taking their 1-2 lead to 1-3 and never letting duo Irina Balus and Ellie Coleman back in the door, 2-6. On court three, it wasn’t until a deuce match point that Hovde and se nior Emma Jackson got the first break of their match to win 6-4.
“That was quick to give us a good 3-0 lead. I'm proud of both of them. Ellie has been really great all year for us, and she has been key in the tournament matches for us,”
Ashworth said.
“When it's close, we just have to stay true to what got us to the point of being close. And we can't, we can't think about the score. I think Liv may have got caught up in the score a little bit,” Ashworth said. “We have three girls on the court that have never been in that position before, and I would like to think Liv would win that match.”
Battling through adversity, Yu and Hovde showed resilience as they struggled to close out emotional matches. After winning the first set 6-4, Yu also dropped her second set 7-5. She had a 3-1 lead in the third, but 64th-ranked Merna Refaat fought back to lead 5-4. At a crucial deuce point, Yu fought off the Auburn match point and tied it at 5-5, eventually breaking Refaat and working herself to the simultaneous clinching match point.
With a 3-0 lead in hand, it seemed the Blue Devils were on track for a 4-0 sweep in the match, which, despite the scoreline, had felt far more competitive. The momen-
Auburn's two points came from a veteran and a freshman as Jackson fell 6-3, 6-2 on court three. On court two, however, Balus came back in her first NCAA tournament after dropping the first set. She pushed her own match to a third set after never falling behind in the second. With Balus’ match tied 5-5 in the third, Auburn’s Angella Okutoyi was able to break serve and cut Duke’s lead to 3-2, turning all eyes to Hovde and Yu.
“I needed so much energy and adrenaline to try to get me through the end of that match. All the support from, all that energy and all the vocalness that was around definitely helped push me through the match,” Yu said. “I was telling myself for the team, for the team ... Trying to push myself even harder than whatever I had.”
The Blue Devils were able to work past the adversity and grit of the No. 9 Auburn team despite faltering momentarily.
“I’m proud that we stayed true to what we're doing, and proud they kept believing and didn't get discouraged in those moments of adversity that definitely popped up,” Ashworth said.
Left: Freshman Liv Hovde takes a swing. Middle: Irina Balus hits a serve.
Above: Ellie Coleman clinched singles victory over Florida Atlantic.
Amy Zhang | Lena Nguyen | Ura Zhang
Men's track and field wins first-ever ACC Championship after high-stakes relay, women place fifth
By Prithvi Kotapati
May 20, 2025
Associate Editor
In a race, everything can change in an instant.
Heading into the penultimate event of the ACC Championships, the 5000m, the Duke men had a narrow lead, lodged at 80 points to California’s 79.83. Neither team had any scoring potential, so the race currently unfolding on the track oval might have seemed inconsequential.
But then there were two flashes of Carolina blue across the finish line.
Carolina’s Parker Wolfe and Ethan Strand had pulled off a remarkable 1-2 finish in the 5k, reeling in 18 points and propelling the Tar Heels out of the depths of the team rankings to lead the Blue Devils, 82-80. The classic Tobacco Road rivalry had at long last arrived in the sport of track and field. And it would all come down to the final race of the meet: the 4x400m relay.
Thursday through Saturday, the Blue Devils left it all out on the track at the ACC Outdoor Championships in Winston-Salem, N.C., bringing in three individual titles, 14 medals and 33 All-ACC honors over three days of competition. While the women placed a disappointing fifth, it was a night of celebration all around Saturday when the men’s team narrowly won its first ACC Championship ever.
“I told the men in our team meeting on Tuesday,” head coach Shawn Wilbourn said. “‘You guys are on the same path that that first women's team was on, and if we go to this meet and we execute, we're going to be ACC champs.’”
But execution depends on a wide variety of factors. As the 5000m race unfolded, the Duke coaching staff scrambled to finalize its lineup for the mile relay. Most of the Duke sprinters had competed multiple times already; speed was no longer a factor. Pure grit would carry the day.
All eyes were on the three teams: Duke, Carolina and California, all within three points of each other. On paper, the team title was within reach for the Blue Devils. But as the gun went off, something unexpected happened all at once.
As the sprinters blasted out of the blocks and around the first bend, an expression of agony flitted across the Carolina runner’s face and his stride slowed down dramatically. He’d pulled a muscle. Carolina was out; it was a two-man race now.
When time came for the second handoff, the Blue Devils had faded into sixth place, two runners and 1.5 seconds behind the Golden Bears. But freshman Joseph Taylor changed that, surging into fourth place with a blistering 44.93-second split. Duke was back in front of California with the team title back in view.
Forty-five seconds later, graduate student Callum Robinson was third across the line in 3:04.49. The 4x400m relay squad of Robinson, his classmate TJ Clayton, and the pair of freshmen Taylor and Andres Langston, had just broken the men's 4x400m relay program record.
That wasn’t all they’d done for the history books: the Duke men had just won their firstever ACC team title.
“We kind of talked it into existence,” Wilbourn said. “The guys executed, and we got it done.”
Even though it had all come down to the relay heroics, the title was a team effort.
Strong field performances kept the Blue Devil men in the lead throughout days one and two. Sophomore Christian Toro brought home the Blue Devils’ first gold medal of the meet with a monster performance in the hammer throw Thursday, tossing his hammer 68.35m— over a foot further than the runner-up. Graduate students Scott Campbell, Matthew Prebola and Joe DiDario added a handful of points from the throws with second, third and fourth-place finishes in the javelin, respectively, rounding the Blue Devils out at 30 points Thursday.
“Coach Posillico, our throws coach, has just done an incredible job,” Wilbourn said. “[The throwers] consistently perform well when it counts.”
On Friday, the field athletes kept hammering. After senior Max Forte leapt to 7.52m in the long jump to secure six points and a bronze medal, graduate student Simen Guttormsen vaulted the Blue Devils — literally — into a commanding lead ahead of the rest of the ACC. The reigning indoor national champion cleared 5.60m for gold in the pole vault, finishing nearly a foot ahead of the runner-up.
The women weren’t without their own hardware. Junior Allison Neiders and sophomore Gemma Tutton both claimed the bronze in the women's pole vault as part of a three-way tie. Graduate students Aliya Garozzo and Birgen Nelson continued the bronze streak with third-place finishes in the 400mH and 100mH, respectively.
But despite those podium finishes for the women, it became increasingly clear Saturday that a back-to-back-to-back ACC championship wasn’t in the cards.
“We've been fortunate to do it in the past,” Wilbourn said. “It just wasn't our weekend on the women's side.”
With the team title out of the mix for the women, the mile relay was the title they could still defend. As the gun went off, Garozzo took off from the blocks, passing off to senior Julia Jackson one lap later. By the time senior Megan McGinnis received the baton, the Blue Devils were lodged in fifth place at the back of the lead group. But as the pack rounded the final bend of the third leg, McGinnis rocketed forward, passing Virginia and Florida State before sprinting the final handoff.
From there, it was all junior Lauren Tolbert, working her way up to stay in step with the leader. In a performance reminiscent of her comeback anchor leg one year ago, Tolbert hawked down Miami’s Sanaa Hebron in the final meters of the race, clocking 50.17 seconds — the fastest split of any athlete in the relay. The Duke women had defended their relay title by a mere 0.09 seconds.
Still, Wilbourn emphasized the performances that weren’t podium-worthy, but still critical for the overall team score, like freshman Aden Bandukwala’s fifth place finish and program record in the 800m or graduate student Gage Knight, who powered through the decathlon despite a pulled hamstring to ring in two extra points.
“Those are the types of performances that don't go noticed unless you look deep in the weeds,” Wilbourn said. “Those are the performances that really make this program.”
Alex Long Staff Photographer
Top: Duke prepares for a relay.
Bottom: Aliya Garozzo runs the 4x400m relay.
Duke men's lacrosse falls 9-8 to Syracuse in ACC Tournament championship
By Colton Schwabe
May 4, 2025
Blue Zone Editor
Graduate attackman Eric Malever found himself off the right shoulder of Syracuse goalkeeper Jimmy McCool. There were only a handful of seconds remaining in the fourth frame of what had been a defensive-minded performance for both teams. The Orange goalkeeper’s 10 saves, with the help of a suffocating Syracuse back line, had limited the Blue Devils' offensive chances throughout much of the game.
With his team down by a single goal, Malever attempted to wrap his shot around McCool’s left shoulder but miscalculated the angle and missed the net entirely. The ball rolled towards the back corner of the pitch as the seconds trickled down and the final buzzer sounded, handing Duke its final reminder of the offensive frustrations that plagued the team’s play all match.
At American Legion Memorial Stadium in Charlotte, the No. 4-seed Orange held strong in the final seconds to squeeze past the No. 3-seed Blue Devils 9-8 in the ACC Tournament Championship, solidifying their case for an NCAA Tournament bid and equalizing their 2025 season record against Duke at 1-1.
By the 10-minute mark in the fourth quarter, Syracuse had built a sturdy 9-6 lead. Five minutes passed before freshman attacker Liam Kershis shaved the lead down to 9-7, and only a minute remained in the game when junior midfielder Max Sloat brought the Blue Devils within a single goal.
The Orange faceoff machine John Mullen, having already won 12 of the 16 faceoffs he had
taken thus far, earned his 13th of the contest, which — at the time — seemed to surely be the end of the ballgame.
But with the shot clock turned off, as Syracuse ran through the final minute of its end-of-game keep-away procedure, junior defenseman Henry Bard pushed redshirt senior attack Owen Hiltz out of play, setting up Duke for one last possession. After his team’s final timeout, sophomore midfielder Benn Johnston found Malever open in front of McCool before the attacker’s eventual miss and the Blue Devils’ eventual one-point loss.
Of the 11 college lacrosse conferences, the ACC is the only one too small to receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Each team must therefore fight for one of the eight at-large positions in the national tournament.
Heading into the conference semifinal against Notre Dame, Syracuse stood in the bubble of NCAA Tournament selection and under the shadow of a three-game losing streak, which included its 7-11 fall to the Blue Devils just weeks ago. Thus, when the Orange ground out their much needed 14-12 overtaking of the No. 1-seed Fighting Irish to advance to the ACC Tournament title game, the team’s season was filled with new hope.
Entering its matchup against Duke, Syracuse — likely carrying unpleasant memories of the quick 4-0 margin the Blue Devils forced onto it in Koskinen Stadium in the teams’ April matchup — wasted no time waiting to put points on the board. Hiltz ripped one from the right side to give the Orange the early 1-0 lead.
After Syracuse broke the seal early in the first, the bout’s trend of strong goalkeeping became apparent. McCool combined for 16 saves with Duke’s sophomore goalkeeper Patrick Jameison in the game’s first half as neither team broke five goals through the game’s first two periods.
Eventually, with five minutes remaining in the first frame, sophomore midfielder Tomas Delgado feinted left and blew by his defender to the right before delivering his sixth goal of the season and equalizing the match at one-all.
Minutes later, after a sequence of strong goalkeeping which followed Delgado’s score, senior midfielder Andrew McAdorey dumped his first of the game in from a behind-the-net pass from Malever and handed Duke the 2-1 lead.
Even with Jameison’s 16-save career day, which kept the Blue Devils close in the fight throughout the match, Syracuse’s offensive penetration at times proved too much for Duke's backline and goalkeeper. The Orange attack blew by Blue Devil defenders and executed effective passing to earn its third and fourth goals in the minutes before the first frame ended for a two-goal margin.
If it wasn’t for McAdorey’s buzzer-beating roller, which closed out the first half, Duke would have played through the second quarter scoreless.
But before the senior midfielder’s second of the day, Syracuse showed it would continue its offensive momentum into the second frame.
After junior attack Joey Spallina — the Orange’s offensive headliner — tallied his 30th goal of the season, attacker Finn Thomson completed a Sports-Center-Top-10-worthy behind-the-back
toss to the net’s top right corner to give Syracuse the intimidating 5-2 lead.
Just as it looked as though the Orange would shut out the Blue Devils in the second frame, sophomore longstick midfielder Mac Christmas fought to carry the Duke possession over the centerline. Christmas would go on to lose a piece of equipment, allowing McAdorey to continue the Blue Devil possession from behind the restraining line after the whistle. The senior captain, falling away from the net, rolled an underhand shot past McCool before the buzzer, cutting the deficit back to two goals and building much-needed momentum for the Duke offense to start the third quarter.
The Blue Devils continued to stay tight with the Orange through the second half, and Syracuse could never build a lead larger than three goals.
Duke players would earn would fall just short of victory in over
In particular, Johnston’s two goals, alongside Delgado’s leaping second score in the third quarter, meant that three Duke players would earn multiple goals through the match’s duration. Despite the balanced scoring effort, the Blue Devils would fall just short of their first conference tournament championship victory in over a decade. two goals, alongside Delgado’s leaping
Behind Curd's dominant defense, No. 14 Duke softball sweeps Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic
By Sophie Levenson, Elle Chavis, Niles Luke and Maya Knauf
Feb. 25,
2025
The first three weekends of Duke’s softball season were absolutely jam-packed. The Blue Devils started things off with the NFCA Leadoff Classic in Clearwater, Fla., spent the following weekend in Gainesville, Fla., for the Bubly Invitational and shot out west this past one for a three-day palooza in Cathedral City, Calif., at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic. They have yet to play in Durham.
Yet at all of these tournaments, Duke has excelled. Its performance even reached a pinnacle in this third and final weekend bonanza, which the No. 14 Blue Devils swept on account of lockdown defense led by junior southpaw Cassidy Curd. She led Duke’s efforts against No. 15 Nebraska, holding the Cornhuskers scoreless; she closed things out against Minnesota, tying a neat bow on Dani Drogemueller’s earlier efforts. And at the tournament’s crescendo, Curd shut out No. 4 UCLA while former Bruin Thessa Malau’ulu earned Duke its only run.
Friday: vs. No. 15 Nebraska, Howard
It took eight innings for anybody to score. Then three Blue Devils finally cracked the Cornhuskers.
At Big League Dreams Sports Park in Cathedral City, Calif., Duke began the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic with a quiet offense but an unyielding defense. Curd pitched eight straight innings; she allowed one hit in the bottom of the
WOMEN’S LACROSSE
first, then none until the fourth. In each of the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh innings, Nebraska hit the softball once. Every time, Duke’s stubborn defense responded, allowing the hit to go no farther than that. Not a single Cornhusker scored in all eight innings.
When senior Ana Gold picked up her bat at the top of the eighth, the bases were loaded and freshman Gabriella Mike had just scored unearned. Gold singled to left field, allowing Brooklinn Thomas and Amiah Burgess to run home and give the Blue Devils, finally, a 3-0 lead. With three strikeouts at the bottom of the inning, Curd made sure the game was ending then and there.
The rest of Friday night was totally different. The Blue Devils, restless for runs after such a slow game, knocked out this one in five innings. They hit home base eight times in just the first, then went on to accrue five more runs in the second and fourth before the mercy rule kicked in for the fifth time this season. Curd rested on the sideline as her classmate Sophie Garner-MacKinnon and freshman Hailey Shuler took care of business, holding Howard to just one run despite their minimal combined experience in the circle.
-Sophie Levenson
Saturday: vs. BYU
The next day, it was a pitchers’ duel under the morning desert sun, in which neither side holstered their guns during the seveninning showdown.
The Blue Devils woke up bright and early for a 9:30 start in sunny Cathedral City, in their first-ever matchup against the BYU Cougars. After a successful first inning for Duke, with a run on the board, the six that followed would be a defensive showdown — Droggemuller and BYU’s Kate Dahle both put on stellar performances on the mound, sending batters back to both benches scratching their heads in frustration. The Blue Devils’ 1-0 victory was not the dominant statement it was predicted to be; rather, the team left the field exhaling sighs of relief after six innings of pure stress.
Graduate student Drogemuller sent the top of BYU’s lineup packing to open the contest.
Then, in the bottom of the first, Gold got things rolling by roping a double to the outfield fence. Amina Vega followed suit, smacking one up the middle to claim the first and only RBI of the game while Gold ran home. Vega also took an extra base on an errant throw.
After a Kairi Rodriguez walk and stolen base, Duke had one out and two runners in scoring position, poised to break it open early. But Dohle locked in, striking out two in a row to end the inning and commence what would become a 12-batter Blue Devil offensive drought spanning the
NO REGRETS: Duke women's lacrosse upsets Virginia 17-9 in NCAA Tournament rematch
By Ava Guglielmo
May 11, 2025
Staff Writer
Suddenly, everything looked familiar. The field, the score and the jerseys. For Duke and Virginia fans, it felt exactly like watching the regular-season matchup between the teams.
happily-ever-after ending against the Cavaliers. And that they did, as a relentless Duke drained fifth-seeded Virginia with a 17-9 win.
The attempt to go off-script and rewrite a new ending — an ending that resulted in the Blue Devils walking away with a win — started off with Callie Hem scoring the first goal of the third quarter. It was a typical goal for Hem, as she snuck her way into the front of the goal without Virginia’s defense having time to notice. Redshirt sophomore Eva Pronti anticipated this move by Hem and passed the ball straight to her for the score.
did everything it could to stop the Cavaliers from climbing their way to the offensive side. Freshman Amanda Paci forced a turnover by Virginia with 54 seconds left in the third quarter. She secured the ground ball, ending the Cavaliers’ pressure to move to the opposite side of the field. Paci passed the secured ground ball to Goodwin, who notched another goal for the Blue Devils, making the score 13-8 with Duke in the lead.
seven goals against the Cavaliers, notching her 59th goal of the season and sealing the Blue Devils' ticket to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament.
“We knew they were going to throw all kinds of things at us, and we needed to be ready to throw it right back at them,” Kimel said.
To beat the Cavaliers, the Blue Devils needed to figure out their enemy: Virginia defense.
of the score — one thing
Both in that game and this second round of the NCAA Tournament, the 15th-ranked Blue Devils started off hot in Klöckner Stadium, entering the half with a significant lead against the Cavaliers. Back in March, despite dominating the first two quarters of the game, Duke fell 16-11 at the end. Although everything seemed the same — from the colors on the field to the pace of the score — one thing was different from their last matchup.
The Blue Devils were different.
It was the second time the Blue Devils entered the back half of the game with a lead over the Cavaliers. The question Duke fans were wondering: Could the Blue Devils keep their lead this time?
The inside of Klöckner Stadium in Charlottesville, Va., turned into a battlefield in the fourth quarter. In order to win the war, one side needed to be strategic, aggressive and speedy. The Blue Devils were all three.
“I told the team to focus on three things. We can’t have any heroes, and we had to play as a team. Number two, we had to stick to our game plan and three, we had to execute our plays to get shots on the goal,” Kimel said.
They had entered this game with a vengeance and a longing for a victory.
Hem answered this question by taking the team’s second shot at beating Virginia literally. She took her second shot of the third quarter and scored once again, solidifying Duke’s 11-6 lead. The Blue Devils needed to stay confident in the back half of the game if they wanted a different ending from their last matchup with Virginia.
longing for a victory.
time we played the team,” head coach
“[We] tried to focus on regret versus revenge from the last time we played the team,” head coach Kirsten Kimel said.
The Blue Devils were given an opportunity in the second round of the NCAA tournament to rewrite their
“I think we played the way I thought we could play today,” Kimel said.
Sophomore Bella Goodwin put herself on the scoring board for the Blue Devils by scoring the 12th goal of the game in the face of three Virginia defenders. Goodwin had Cavaliers coming on the left, right and center of her. She launched a shot between the left and center defender to score.
As the clock ran down at the end of the third quarter, the Blue Devils looked like they were reaching their peak at exactly the perfect time. Duke
Goodwin followed Kimel’s advice. Her aggression prevailed in the fourth quarter as she scored her 50th goal for the season, assisted by Bernstein. A foul on Virginia then led to a free position shot by Reese Woodworth. Although Woodworth’s goal bounced off Virginia goalkeeper's stick, Goodwin capitalized on this ground ball to score. She solidified Duke’s 16-8 lead with a little over six minutes left in the game.
Hem epitomized the Blue Devils' relentlessness as she ended the game by scoring the last goal with 20 seconds left. With her 15th goal in two days, the graduate transfer proved herself to be a catalyst for Blue Devil movement in the NCAA Tournament. Hem scored eight goals against James Madison and
Silent assassin Hem and her wing-woman Pronti figured out gaps early on, allowing them to pressure the Cavaliers' goalie. In the second quarter, Pronti found Hem at the middle left of the goalie, allowing Hem to score her 55th goal of the season and her third goal of the game. Not too soon after, Pronti dominated the Cavalier defense on her own by taking control of a loose ball in front of the goal and transforming it into a behind-the-back shot that solidified Duke's lead, 8-3.
Duke goalie Kennedy Everson was pivotal in stalling Virginia from running away with a lead. The 5-foot-6 redshirt junior played the entire 60 minutes of the game, showing no sign of letting Virginia falter her defending status.
Everson had six pivotal saves in the matchup, shutting down any attempt by the Cavaliers to gain an advantage. At the start of the fourth quarter, she capitalized on an open ground ball and once again took away another potential scoring opportunity for Virginia.
Duke succeeded in its victory with no regrets against the Cavaliers to advance to the NCAA Championship quarterfinals.
Morgan Chu | Staff Photographer Ana Gold (No. 4) scored Duke's only run against BYU.
SOFTBALL
FROM PAGE 21
next four innings and keeping the game tight to its completion.
By the seventh, it was time for Cassidy Curd to shut it down. Young sent her in to relieve Drogemueller. A sacrifice bunt by Lindy Milkowski put two in scoring position with only a single out, and BYU was better poised for damage than it had been all game. But Curd kept her composure and struck out two in a row to clinch the 1-0 victory and ease the late-game pressure. -Maya Knauf
Saturday: vs. Minnesota
The Blue Devils looked to continue their win streak and finish Saturday off strong against Minnesota.
Immediately, it looked as though the Gophers had other plans. As soon as the game began, at the top of Minnesota’s batting order, Margaret Tobias reached first base on a powerful single. Soon after, Taylor Krapf was hit by an errant pitch from Drogemuller, giving Minnesota two runners on base. And two batters later, Jae Cosgriff was walked to first. Duke suddenly found itself staring down the Gophers with loaded bases and an opportunity to jump out to a wide lead.
Still, despite the daunting prospect of loaded bases staring at them, the Blue Devils remained calm. The Gophers had already collected two outs, meaning a third would send them back to the dugout and leave the game scoreless. With the practiced ease that has already become expected of the young Duke softball program, the Blue Devils rose to the occasion on defense. Quickly, Duke collected the third out, thwarting Minnesota’s efforts to jump out to the lead and leaving the game scoreless.
That opportunity would be among Minnesota’s last in the afternoon while Duke slowly warmed
FINAL FOUR
FROM PAGE 14
On offense, Duke also struggled mightily. After a Flagg jumper with 10:31 left, the Blue Devils made only one field goal the rest of the way. That one was a cold-blooded Flagg corner triple after a timeout with 3:30 remaining that seemed to close out the deal, but once again, the defensive glass plagued Scheyer’s squad.
While Flagg had a highlight-reel block on the subsequent defensive possession, what went less noticed is Houston’s backto-back offensive rebounds leading up to the block — and Sharp’s driving layup on his team’s third try of the possession. That gave Duke game pressure to deal with, and the Cougars pounced on the sliver of hope.
“They're a really good defensive team. I didn't think we were sharp in the last 10 and a half minutes on our execution as we had been for the first 10 minutes of the second half,” Knueppel said.
The two imperfections of the team — it’s hard to call them weaknesses with how well the group plays — reared their head Saturday night. Along with the occasional defensive rebounding lapses, the point guard-by-committee approach, while very dangerous with its crisp ball movement and depth, had its flaws at times — namely against the pressure of North Carolina or in this game, when the team needed a calming backcourt presence.
It’s been a memorable season for one of the best teams in college basketball history, and this should certainly not take away from that. For 30 minutes, the Blue Devils played a phenomenal game against
up its bats throughout the match. After going hitless in the first inning, the Blue Devils began to reestablish their offensive scheme in the second inning. Burgess got the hitting off to a start for Duke with a powerful single down the center of the diamond. It would be Burgess who scored to give the Blue Devils the shallow 1-0 lead shortly thereafter.
Drogemuller soon after settled back into her starting role in the circle, only allowing two hits over the next three innings. Other than Burgess’ lone run, neither team could establish any more of an offensive rhythm, making for a quiet game in southern California. Still, when the sixth inning came and with the win in sight, Young turned to the reliable Curd to once again give Drogemuller some relief in the circle and close out the game with another one in the win column for Duke.
After Curd efficiently put away three Minnesota batters at the top of the sixth, her teammates gave her a bit of cushion at their next at bat. Burgess, once again, came through for her team when they needed her. Before that, Vega singled down the right side of the pitch while an error on the part of Minnesota pitcher, Syndey Schwartz, sent Kairi Rodriguez to first base, giving the Blue Devils two batters on base. Burgess once again powered a double to bring Vega home and put Duke up 2-0.
With a little bit of breathing room, Curd and the Blue Devils stepped back into the seventh inning where they quickly collected three outs and exited Saturday’s gameplay without a loss to stain their perfect record at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic. -Elle Chavis
Sunday: vs. No. 4 UCLA
The stain never came. Sometimes — and twice, during this weekend — all it takes is one. In a closely fought 1-0 contest between the Bruins and the Blue Devils, that one came in the form of Malau’ulu, a transfer student from the team sitting crestfallen in the opposite dugout. A revenge game? Maybe, as Malau’ulu spent the last four years patrolling the hot corner for a dominant UCLA squad before heading to bluer pastures in Durham. Malau’ulu’s winning was a homecoming, as she slayed the giant of her alma mater in front of the California crowd and her squadmates. It ended in a fiery celebration, standing on what she had found headfirst a moment before: home.
Sunday’s performance was no different from the tone Curd had set earlier this weekend. The Port St. Lucie, Fla., native completely shut down and shut out the Bruins. She sat the first three batters down without much issue and kept the talented UCLA lineup off rhythm throughout the entirety of the contest, allowing just three hits to the Bruins, who had smashed in nine runs against Arkansas just the day before. Firing high heat above the hands of flailing UCLA batters, Curd was composed and in control every step of the way, even when she found herself in daunting circumstances.
In the bottom of the sixth, it seemed as if the Bruins had found a chink in her armor after poking a 1-2 fastball into right-center for a double. They had not. Even with a runner looming fifty feet from home, Curd sent Seneca Curo packing after swinging aimlessly at the air.
As the final inning dawned, it fell on the shoulders of the rest of the Blue Devils to secure a run for their pitcher, who had been heading the battle all afternoon. With one out
an extremely tough opponent. Scheyer’s game plan against every tournament team worked extremely well, but Duke finished just a couple plays away from a championship game.
“Unfortunately it comes with the tournament. It's the most heartbreaking thing,” Scheyer said. “But I just try to explain to them, like, what they've done for Duke, our program, our University. It's been one of the best seasons ever ... I couldn't be more grateful in 2025 to have this connected of a group. It's hard to do.”
down, Malau’ulu punched a hard liner into the left-center, hustling to second base to put the go-ahead run on second. Sophomore Linh Le stepped to the dish after Jada Baker went down swinging. Le blooped an infield single into play to send Malau’ulu flying around third and safely into home headfirst, diving past the Bruin catcher’s tag to sneak her left hand onto the plate.
It was a narrow one-run lead heading into the last half-inning.
Curd fought mightily to keep the Bruins off the basepath, allowing just one runner on via a walk. UCLA kept letting the bats fly, slicing foul ball after foul ball. With pitch after pitch being sent out of play, it was up to Burgess to seal the game, snagging a pop-up foul ball while crashing over the left side fence.
She toppled heels over head, but the League City, Texas, native had much to show for it, with the neon-green softball poking just outside the web of her glove. The Blue Devils swarmed Burgess in celebration, banging
fence cover and leaping up and down. That
had extended their win streak to nine games
FENCING
FROM PAGE 14
ACC Championships. He finished just outside the podium in fourth place and demonstrated poise and tenacity, pushing some of the conference’s top competitors to their limits. His strong debut bodes well for Duke’s saber for the future.
Duke’s foil squad also turned in a tightly contested effort, with three fencers finishing side by side in the standings. Joseph Glasson placed ninth, followed closely by Laith Elkousy and Owen Li, underscoring the team’s consistency in the event.
In the team event, the Blue Devil women made a strong impression, finishing with a 3-1 record and narrowly falling to Notre Dame in the championship match. Duke displayed depth and resilience throughout the competition, with standout victories over Boston College, North Carolina and Stanford.
In their opening match against the Eagles, the Blue Devils showcased strength in saber, dominating 8-1, and followed up with a 6-3 victory in foil. Despite a 5-4 loss in épée, Duke secured an 18-9 overall win. Against the Tar Heels, the Blue Devils' balanced attack was evident, winning 7-2 in both saber and foil, while edging out a close 5-4 victory in épée for a 19-8 team win. Against Stanford, Duke won 5-4 in saber, lost 4-5 in foil and dominated épée with an 8-1 victory to finish with a 17-10 win.
Despite their strong run, the Blue Devils fell short in the final, losing 19-8 to Notre Dame. Struggling in both saber and épée, where it secured only three wins between the two events, Duke faced a tough challenge against the Fighting Irish’s dominance. A bright spot for the Blue Devils came in foil, where they managed a 5-4 victory.
Several individual performances stood out in team competition. Kowalsky led the épée squad
with a solid 5-4 record, while Katie Lin posted a strong 6-5. In foil, Koenig and Koo each posted an impressive 9-3 record, helping propel the team in that event. Meanwhile, in saber, Sky Miller’s 8-4 performance and Tong’s 5-4 record were key for their team's success.
“We were going in hoping to win championships in the team events,” Elgeziry said. “Unfortunately, we fell short in both but I believe that we fought hard, we had a lot of good results and we lost as well, but that is part of the process you have to lose sometimes to grow and win in the future.”
on the yellow
catch
in a row. -Niles Luke
Morgan Chu | Staff Photographer Thessa Malau'ulu bats for Duke.
Tiffany Chen | Staff Photographer Khaman Maluach goes up for a block.
Andy Jiang | Sports Photo Editor Duke fences at the Duke invitational.
WELCOME TO DUKE! SHOOTERS
