11/04/2009 - Duke Sports Information

DURHAM, N.C. - Duke will be returning to Charlottesville, Va. with another chance to face third-ranked Virginia in the first round of the ACC Tournament on Thursday at 3:30 p.m.

The Blue Devils (9-9, 0-5 ACC) are coming off their final ACC regular-season game in Charlottesville, Va. on Halloween. Duke was edged by third-ranked Virginia, who scored the final two goals to win, 2-1. Senior Lauren Miller notched her fifth goal of the season in the first half, giving Duke the lead into halftime and setting a new career-high mark for goals in a season. 

Miller was the spark on offense against Virginia on Halloween, but senior forward Amie Survilla and junior forward Susan Ferger have been consistent and dangerous options up top all season. The duo has combined for 28 goals, which accounts for 57% of Duke's total scoring. Survilla (41), Ferger (20), Miller (15) and freshman Mary Nielsen (11) were the four Duke players to accumulate double-digit point totals. Junior goalie Samantha Nelson had eight saves against Virginia and 75 for the season.

The Cavaliers have a potent attack of their own, led by Paige Selenski, who scored a goal and tallied an assist against the Blue Devils in their matchup. Selenski has 22 scores on the year, averaging more than one goal per game (1.22). Even with strong offensive numbers, Virginia's calling this season has been on defense, giving up only 15 goals in 18 contests (0.83 ga/g).

Duke will be pitted against Virginia for the second time in less than a week with an NCAA Tournament berth on the line.  The winner of this game will face No. 2 seed North Carolina on Friday at 4 p.m. Thursday's game can be followed on ACC Select On-Demand.

No. 4 seed Wake Forest and No. 5 seed Boston College will be playing at 1 p.m. on Thursday, with the winner facing No. 1 seed Maryland at 6:30 p.m. the following evening.

Duke remained in the top 15 of two national polls released this afternoon. The Blue Devils are ranked No. 13 in the womensfieldhockey.com poll and No. 14 in the Kookaburra/NFHCA poll heading into this weekend's ACC Championships.

The top three ACC seeds are also the top three nationally ranked squads. Maryland (18-0) and North Carolina (16-1) have been ranked No. 1 and No. 2 for the entire season, and have both earned first-round byes in the ACC Tournament.

Virginia (16-2) remains No. 3 in each poll, while Wake Forest is fifth in the womensfieldhockey.com poll and sixth in the Kookaburra/NFHCA poll. Boston College is also ranked 10th and ninth, respectively.

The Blue Devils finished the regular season playing 11 games against ranked opponents.

ACC Tournament links can be found at the ACC Tournament Central site linked at the top of this article. The ACC On-Demand broadcast is also linked. You can also follow game action on Duke field hockey twitter.

-d-u-k-e-