The Terrapin women’s volleyball team had only lost one match. The young team was outperforming preseason expectations and doing so with a calm, quiet demeanor. But as the ACC schedule produced rival Duke Sunday, head coach Janice Kruger told her team to stop being so nice.

“I have such nice kids and such nice families, so I wanted to remind them that this is not the time to be in this mild-mannered thinking,” Kruger said. “It’s time to be aggressive.”

The Terps (17-1, 8-1 ACC) took the advice to heart, kicking up their aggression a few notches on serves and in attack. The result: a three-game sweep over the Blue Devils (31-29, 31-29, 30-18) before a vocal home crowd at Comcast Center.

The win capped a two-game homestand this weekend that began with a five game victory over Wake Forest (30-28, 28-30, 30-21, 26-30, 15-10) Friday. While both matches were big wins in terms of building a strong conference record, head coach Janice Kruger said the sweep of Duke (11-6, 5-4) had even more significance.

“They were the preseason No. 1 in the Coaches Poll and they have a big setter there in the middle,” Kruger said. “I don’t know the last time we beat Duke in three.”

Last year the Blue Devils took the Terps to five games in the ACC Tournament semifinals during the Terps’ run to a second consecutive ACC title. But the story was completely different Sunday, thanks to the aggressive effort that produced a .320 overall attack percentage.

“We’re usually laid back and just kind of let things happen,” said senior Stephanie Smith, who finished with 14 kills. “Janice told us before the game that she didn’t want us to play like that.”

To ensure a bolder effort, Kruger underwent the change herself, morphing from a quiet, collected sideline coach to one that was off her chair screaming every other volley.

“I think the team was keying off me a little,” Kruger said. “I was just really excited for our kids to have this match.”

Several Terps fed off the new approach, including sophomore outside hitter Jade Brown, who turned in 12 kills. But no Terp played more aggressive than Smith.

Smith slammed home 14 out of her 17 attempted attacks for an .824 attack percentage. While seeing her fair share of kill opportunities, Smith mixed it up with a “sometimes less is more” strategy.

She had carried her team with several powerful blocks and kills thus far in game three, but with the score 20-13 and three Duke blockers charging hard at the net, she opted to give the ball a soft tap.

“It’s my favorite thing to do to hit, hit, then tip. I feel sly,” said Smith, who leads the team with 84 blocks. “This year I see the [other team’s] block better, and that play I had three up on me and I knew there’d be space behind them.”

The soft tap proved effective, as the ball fell to a wide open space in the middle of the Duke defense. Smith turned to her team and smiled, as Kruger gave a quick laugh.

“She brought it this weekend,” Kruger said.

The Terp defense against Duke was a big change from Wake Forest two days earlier. After jumping out to a 25-20 lead in game three, the Terps let the Demon Deacons outscore them 10-1 down the stretch. Such lapses had Wake Forest (9-9, 2-7) forcing a game five, but the strong play of senior Rachel Wagener (21 kills) carried the Terps through.

“We knew we had to play better defensively, but with only two days in between games, it wasn’t something we could really work on,” Kruger said. “It just came down to heart and desire, and we were really trying to play on that today.”

Contact reporter Jason Fraley at sports@dbk.umd.edu.