ACC Champs!

[burnspbesq]

Congrats to the Duke women's volleyball team, which clinched the ACC championship and the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament with tonight's four-game win over VaTech. The Devils lead Carolina by two games with two to play, and hold the tie-breaker by virtue of sweeping the two matches against the Heels.

The final home match of the regular season is Saturday against UVa.

[4decadedukie]

That's absolutely excellent; this team and program has been quietly building real excellence for several seasons. It's wonderful to see their efforts recognized with the ACC Championship. As a side note, this is certain to help Duke return the Carlyle Cup to Durham -- where it belongs.

PS: Please consider the performance of these Duke women, when you evaluate Jay Bilas' proposal to create a small, separate (and probably exclusionary) group of compensated, revenue-sports competitors (future pros) that would likely exclude ALL student-athletes other than Division I men's football and basketball players -- and darn few of them. I am convinced that the joys the enduring benefits of intercollegiate play are earned equally, by every student-athlete, and these ladies are a sterling example of that premise.