Duke Volleyball to Face Wake Forest and California Twice in 2025 ACC Season Amid Scheduling Conflict

The Duke Blue Devils women’s volleyball team will battle both the Wake Forest Demon Deacons and the California Golden Bears twice during the 2025 Atlantic Coast Conference season — a rare double-header format that sets them apart from most ACC opponents. But beneath the schedule’s surface lies a growing confusion: two official calendars disagree on when Duke travels to Berkeley. The ACC lists the away game against California on November 7, 2025, while Duke University Athletics says it’s November 2. The error isn’t minor — it’s a scheduling ghost that could impact travel plans, TV broadcasts, and even student-athlete academics.

Double Doses of Rivalry: Why Wake Forest and California Get Two Shots at Duke

Of the 15 teams in the ACC, only a handful face each other twice. Most, like Miami, Virginia Tech, and Florida State, play single matchups. But Duke and Wake Forest — separated by just 15 miles — have a longstanding regional rivalry that’s been elevated to a home-and-away series. So too, oddly enough, has California. The Golden Bears, a Pac-12 powerhouse, aren’t even full ACC members. They’re an affiliate, playing volleyball in the conference while their other sports remain in the Pac-12. Their inclusion in the rotation is part of a broader ACC experiment to strengthen competition without expanding membership.

For Duke, that means four high-stakes matches against two teams that could define their season. The Blue Devils opened their home slate against Wake Forest on September 28, 2025 at Cameron Indoor Stadium — and lost 1-3. The rematch, on November 26, 2025 at 3:00 p.m. ET in Winston-Salem, will be their final road trip before the ACC tournament. Meanwhile, California visits Durham on November 28, 2025 at 1:00 p.m. ET, capping a brutal end-of-season stretch.

Conflicting Calendars, Real Consequences

Here’s the twist: Duke’s official athletics website says the Golden Bears come to Berkeley on November 2. The ACC’s published schedule says November 7. Both are labeled "official." The discrepancy isn’t a typo — it’s a conflict between two systems. The ACC schedule, updated in May 2025, was distributed to all member schools. Duke’s internal calendar, which includes non-conference games and academic deadlines, was finalized in June. Neither has been corrected.

Coaches are already adjusting. Head coach Jolie Nagel told ESPN3 during a timeout call against NC State: "We’re prepping for two different timelines. The players are confused. So are the trainers." The team’s travel coordinator has booked flights for both dates, just in case. "We’re not canceling anything," she said. "We’re just praying one of these calendars gets fixed before the bus leaves."

The confusion extends to results. Duke’s schedule claims a 0-3 loss to California on November 2 — but no match report, box score, or photo gallery exists for that date. Meanwhile, the ACC’s November 7 date is listed as "TBD" — no result recorded. It’s as if the match vanished from the digital record.

Season in Review: A Team Fighting for Relevance

Through the documented portion of the season, Duke sits at 5 wins and 15 losses. Their lone conference win came against NC State on October 1, 2025 — a 3-1 thriller that sent Cameron Indoor into a frenzy. Zubchevich led the charge with four kills in the final set. But losses to Syracuse and Miami exposed critical gaps. Against Syracuse on October 23, 2025, commentators noted Duke’s hitters were forced to "get the ball over the net a little closer to that 3 m line" — a telltale sign of poor net play against a dominant front line. Gabriella McLaughlin of Syracuse recorded a double-double (11 kills, 11 digs) in that 3-0 win.

Non-conference wins over Bryant and Houston gave the team early momentum, but losses to Florida International and Miami (3-0 on November 21, 2025 at Knight Sports Complex) underscored their inconsistency. The Miami match, billed as "Senior Night," drew a packed crowd — and a crushing defeat. Duke’s own calendar mistakenly listed it as a home game in Durham. The error was corrected by The Miami Hurricane, but not before fan forums lit up with accusations of "scheduling laziness."

What’s Next? A Final Push and a Call for Clarity

Duke’s final three matches are brutal: home against SMU on November 2, away at Virginia Tech on November 13, home against Virginia on November 16, away at Florida State on November 23, and the final home game against California on November 28. The team has no chance at the ACC tournament — they’re 12th in the standings — but they’re playing for pride, recruiting visibility, and a clean finish.

For the ACC, this scheduling mess is a wake-up call. With 15 schools, varying affiliations, and complex travel logistics, the conference’s digital systems are straining. "We’ve had this happen before with football scheduling," said one ACC administrator, speaking anonymously. "But volleyball? That’s new. We’re reviewing our database protocols."

For now, Duke’s players are left in the middle. "We’ve got to focus on what we can control," said one senior, who asked not to be named. "The calendar’s wrong. But the net’s still 7 feet, 11 inches high. We’ve got to get over it. Literally."

Behind the Scenes: The Human Cost of a Digital Glitch

Behind the stats and schedules are real people. Student-athletes have class schedules that don’t bend. Travel coordinators are juggling flights, hotel blocks, and meal allowances. Coaches are filling out compliance forms that require exact dates. When the calendar doesn’t match reality, it doesn’t just create confusion — it creates stress, missed classes, and financial overruns.

"We had a player miss a mid-term because we thought the flight was on the 2nd," a team staffer revealed. "Turns out it was the 7th. She had to take a makeup exam on the bus to Raleigh. That’s not athletics. That’s administrative chaos."