Duke is walking into the hardest stretch of its season with momentum, but the next two stops on the schedule are about as unforgiving as it gets. The Blue Devils head to No.
2 Pitt on Friday night, then turn around and travel to No. 5 SMU on Sunday in a road swing that will tell plenty about where this team stands right now.
The timing is good for Duke, at least in one sense. The Blue Devils are fresh off a solid weekend that included a 3-1 win over Boston College and a sweep of Syracuse, stretching their winning streak to three matches. Even more encouraging, Duke has taken nine of its last 10 sets during that run.
Ashby Zubchevich has been the engine behind that surge all season, and she kept rolling last weekend with 40 kills on .317 hitting. Her 5.71 kills per set ranked second in the ACC, trailing only Georgia Tech’s Alida Bennour at 6.25. The sophomore outside hitter put up 21 kills on .222 hitting against Boston College, then followed with 19 kills on .432 hitting against Syracuse.
Nataly Moravec added another big scoring week from the outside, finishing with 31 kills, or 4.43 per set. Olivia Wayne chipped in from the middle with 17 kills on a .577 hitting clip. Moravec and Zubchevich are the only teammates in the top 25 nationally in kills per set.
That firepower helped Duke turn in its best offensive ACC performance of the season Sunday, when it hit .393 against Syracuse. Senior setter Nikki Quinn was central to that effort and the one before it, averaging 10.71 assists per set over the two matches, which ranked fourth in the conference last week. For the season, Quinn leads the ACC with 10.73 assists per set.
This weekend also opens a brutal run for Duke. Friday starts a stretch of four straight matches against ranked opponents, with SMU following on Sunday and No. 20 North Carolina waiting next week for a pair of matches.
The Blue Devils have already made a major leap in 2026. Their NCAA RPI sits at No. 65, a climb of 195 spots from last year’s final mark of 260. That jump ranks third nationally this season, behind only Harvard at plus-224 and Lindenwood at plus-210.
There’s more good news in the numbers for Duke. The Blue Devils have won three straight ACC matches for the second time this year, and their eight conference wins are their most since they won 10 in 2023.
With 16 wins already, Duke has locked up a winning record for the first time since that 2023 team finished 19-10. Ahen Kim-led teams have finished above .500 in seven of eight seasons.
Duke’s offense has been one of the better ones in the country, too. The Blue Devils rank 24th nationally in assists per set at 12.89. And the scoring load has been heavily concentrated: entering Friday, Moravec and Zubchevich have combined for 695 of Duke’s 1,159 kills this year, accounting for 53.2 percent of the team’s total points in 2026.
Road games haven’t been a problem either. Duke is 7-2 in true road matches, with losses only to No. 3 Louisville and NC State.
Now comes the real test.
Pitt, which was picked second in the ACC preseason coaches poll and received seven first-place votes, is 21-1 overall and 11-1 in conference play. The Panthers reached the semifinals of last year’s NCAA tournament before falling to eventual champion Texas A&M.
Olivia Babcock is the centerpiece of that team and has been named AVCA Player of the Year in both 2024 and 2025. She leads the nation in points per set at 5.99 and tops the ACC in kills per set at 5.01, which ranks fourth nationally. Pitt is also first in the country in blocks per set at 3.21 and second nationally, while leading the ACC, in hitting percentage at .333.
SMU brings its own problems. The Mustangs were picked fourth in the preseason poll and made the regional semifinals last year before falling to Purdue.
Natalia Newsome has been outstanding, leading the country in hitting percentage at .524. As a team, SMU ranks eighth nationally in hitting percentage at .283.
Suli Davis gives the Mustangs another major threat. She is second in the ACC and 12th nationally in kills per set at 4.45, and she also ranks fourth in the country in blocks per set at 1.58.
Duke gets Pitt on Friday at 7 p.m. in Pittsburgh, then SMU on Sunday at 1 p.m. in Dallas.
In Other News...
Duke Just Sent A Clear Message About Nate Sheppards Rise
Dukes weekend was busy across the board, but the clearest statement came away from Cameron Indoor, where the football program formally kicked off a Heisman Trophy campaign for sophomore running back Nate Sheppard. It is the kind of move that only happens when a school believes a player has moved from promising contributor to national talking point, and Sheppard has certainly given Duke reason to make the push after leading the Power Four in multiple statistical categories.
The timing matters, too, because Dukes other teams were in the middle of a mixed stretch. The mens basketball team rolled past Coastal Carolina behind Patrick Ngongbas career-high 28 points and a double-double from Cayden Boozer, while the mens soccer team fell 2-1 to Clemson in the ACC Championship and the womens soccer team finished its regular season with a scoreless draw against Virginia. Against that backdrop, the football programs message was hard to miss: Sheppard has become one of the Blue Devils biggest national selling points, and the campaign only adds to the spotlight on what he might do next. [Read more 🡒]
Jon Scheyer Sent A Clear Message To Duke Freshman In Blowout Win
Jon Scheyer has made it clear all season that Dukes freshmen are going to be coached hard, and Joaquim Boumtje Boumtje got a reminder of that in a blowout win. After a turnover and a missed dunk attempt turned into an opponents transition basket, Scheyer called him over for a timeout and sent him to the bench, a small moment that fit the standard the Blue Devils have been talking about since the season began.
Even with that brief correction, Scheyer has been encouraged by Boumtje Boumtjes early progress. The freshman has already shown he can help in meaningful minutes, especially on the defensive end, and Scheyer has pointed to his coachability as a reason for optimism. For Duke, the bigger picture is less about one mistake in a lopsided game and more about how quickly a young player is absorbing the demands that come with wearing the jersey. [Read more 🡒]
Manny Diaz Rumors Put Duke Stability Back In The Spotlight
Florida States decision to move on from Mike Norvell immediately sent a ripple through the coaching carousel, and Manny Diaz found himself back in the conversation almost by default. For Duke, it is the kind of outside noise that can arrive quickly around a coach who has already helped steady the program and draw attention with a strong run, even as the Blue Devils continue to focus on their own footing in the ACC.
Diaz has already addressed the speculation and made clear he is happy at Duke, which is exactly the sort of reassurance the program wants to hear when another job opens up in the region. The timing also lands in a conference landscape where NC State has been through its own recent football changes and uneven results, a reminder that stability is a valuable commodity right now and one Duke would prefer not to lose. [Read more 🡒]