Catanach Leads Duke To 3-2 Win Over Florida State

Sunday, November 2

Tallahassee, Fla.

1:00 p.m.

Duke University

Florida State

Catanach Named Student-Athlete Of The Week

Catanach Leads Duke To 3-2 Win Over Florida State

11/2/2008 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball

By: Duke Sports Information

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. ? Kellie Catanach served up a career-high 62 assists and picked up 17 digs to lead the Duke volleyball team to a 3-2 (22-25, 25-17, 20-25, 25-21, 15-10) win over Florida State Sunday afternoon on Lucy McDaniel Court.

Catanach saw over 42 percent of her sets go down for kills as Duke (18-7, 9-4 ACC) racked up 71 kills against the Seminoles (15-6, 7-6 ACC). Catanach, a 6-2 freshman from Tampa, Fla. (Plant), averaged 12.4 assists per set in the match and had at least 10 on the first four sets before tossing up eight along with a kill in Duke's 15-10 fifth-set win. She also recorded her 10th double-double of the season.

Catanach effectively spread the ball around and allowed four Blue Devils to reach or surpass 12 kills, including Rachael Moss who led the team with 20. Catanach went to Moss early and often, allowing the junior outside hitter to take a team-high 52 attacks in the win. Moss was also active on the defensive end and recorded her team-leading 12th double-double of the season with 14 digs against the Seminoles (15-6, 7-6 ACC).

Freshman Sophia Dunworth also reached double figures with 18 kills on a .429 hitting percentage while seniors Jourdan Norman and Sue Carls turned in matching 12-kill outings. Norman continued her errorless streak and hit .522 without a fault to extend a run of three straight matches without an attack error.k

"We're really excited to be able to get a road win in the ACC," head coach Jolene Nagel said. "Florida State played a really good match. I thought our team was really aggressive tonight, especially when they needed to be in the fifth set. It was great for us to be able to turn around and execute a bit better in our blocking and defense which was missing Friday night."

Duke held Florida State to a .218 hitting percentage by blocking 9.5 attacks, seven of which included Norman. Dunworth also got in on five of those stops, while libero Claire Smalzer backed them up with 20 digs. Five Seminoles had 10 or more kills, including team leader Brianna Barry who had 14, but only two hit over .265 on the afternoon. Barry was the only Seminole to top the .400 clip and finished at .417.

Florida State took the first set 25-22 after outhitting duke .286 to .233. Setter Nikki Baker served up 14 assists in the effort and spread the wealth, allowing Barry to put down four kills and Rachael Morgan, Stephanie Neville and Jordan Price to contribute three apiece. Moss went 7-for-17 attacking for Duke without an error while Smalzer did her best to keep Florida State's offense in check with seven digs. The Blue Devils kept the score close early in the match, battling to a 14-14 tie before giving way to a quick 3-0 run that they never recovered from. Florida State held the advantage for the remainder of the match and fought off a late Duke comeback at 23-22 to lock up the win on a kill from Neville and a Duke attack error.

The Blue Devils responded with defensive adjustments in the second set and held the Seminoles to a .121 hitting percentage on the way to a 25-17 win. The Blue Devils put back 4.5 blocks in the frame with three coming from Norman. Duke built as much as an 11-point lead in the frame at 23-12 thanks to an early 12-3 run that broke open a 6-6 tie. Moss helped put the set away with four kills, including the 24th point of the frame for the Blue Devils.

Florida State bounced back for a 25-20 win in the third set to go ahead 2-1 in the match. Florida State setter Nikki Baker led the offense to a .415 clip in the frame and allowed three different players ? Barry, Price and Lauren Richardson ? to reach five kills. Her effort was just enough to outpace Catanach, who tossed up 16 assists, and the trio of Norman, Dunworth and Carls, who combined for 12 kills on 20 errorless attacks. Their effort led Duke to a .302 hitting percentage in the frame, but it was not enough to overcome the early hole that Duke fell into.

Down 2-1 and facing defeat with a loss, the Blue Devils buckled down and won the fourth set 25-21 to knot the match at 2-2 and send it into set five. While Catanach stayed hot with 14 assists, Moss and Dunworth came up big for the Blue Devils with five kills apiece. Duke .289 in the set and picked up 20 digs, six of which came from Catanach. Duke controlled most of the match and led by as much as four points before the Seminoles rallied to knot the score at 18-18. Moss broke the tie with a kill, however, to spark a 6-1 Duke run that ran the score to 24-19. After Duke allowed two straight points to Florida State, Carls ended the set with her third kill of the frame.

With the match tied at 2-2, Duke turned up the intensity and suffocated the Seminoles to a .080 hitting percentage to win the final set 15-10 and the match 3-2. The Blue Devils allowed just four of Florida State's 25 attacks to touch the floor after having eight of nine players pick up at least one dig and the other, Norman, put back a solo block. Smalzer had four of those pickups along with eight errorless service receptions.

Duke will return home to Cameron Indoor Stadium next weekend for a pair of conference bouts against ACC frontrunners Clemson and Georgia Tech on Friday and Saturday, Nov. 7-8. Both matches will begin at 7 p.m.

-d-u-k-e-