Duke Upends ACC Leader Clemson 3-1

Friday, November 7

Durham, N.C.

7:00 p.m.

Duke University

Clemson

Volleyball Set To Take On Wake Forest In Mid-Week ACC Tilt

Duke Upends ACC Leader Clemson 3-1

11/7/2008 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball

By: Duke Sports Information

DURHAM, N.C. ? Rachael Moss had 18 kills and Jourdan Norman put back eight blocks as the Duke volleyball team upended ACC leader Clemson 3-1 (25-17, 25-27, 27-25, 25-21) Friday evening in Cameron Indoor Stadium. The win bumps Duke from a tie for second place to a tie for first in the ACC standings.

Moss used a team-high 54 attacks in the win and picked up her 12th double-double of the season with 20 digs. Duke (19-7, 10-4 ACC) held Clemson (18-7, 10-4 ACC), which led the ACC in hitting percentage entering the match, to a .156 hitting percentage, thanks to the eight-block effort from Duke's all-time block leader Norman, who ran her career total to 594 and extended a streak of 74 straight matches with a block that dates back to her sophomore season.

“I'm excited for the team, because they've been working really hard,” Duke head coach Jolene Nagel said. “It really paid off tonight with a win against such a good Clemson team.”

Libero Claire Smalzer contributed to Duke's strong defensive effort with a team-high 24 digs to lead six Blue Devils who finished with 13 or more pickups. Among that group were freshmen Sophia Dunworth, who recorded her third double-double of the season with 12 kills and 13 digs, Amanda Robertson, who picked up 14, and setter Kellie Catanach who matched Dunworth and Moss with a 54-assist, 14-dig double-double. Senior Aana Wherry also reached double figures with 12.

“I thought our team executed well tonight and touched a lot of balls on the block, which ultimately allowed us to score points,” Nagel said. “Early in the match, I felt like we were playing pretty well, but just weren't communicating as well or being aggressive enough. Coming back after the second set, though, I think we were just much smoother out there in those aspects.”

Duke had trouble containing Clemson's Danielle Hepburn, who entered the match as the reigning ACC Player Of The Week. The 6-2 senior carried a .283 hitting percentage through the match and finished with 18 kills to tie outside hitter Jeannette Abbott for the team lead. Abbott, however, needed 67 attacks to get her's down and finished with a .179 clip. Clemson was able to match Duke on the defensive end, holding the Blue Devils to a .180 clip behind a 31-dig effort from libero Didem Ege and a 28-dig showing from setter Kelsey Murphy.

Norman opened the night with a five-block performance in the first set that helped limit the Tigers to a ‑.028 hitting percentage. The senior middle blocker also put down three kills on six attacks while Moss accounted for four others. Duke opened strong and built an 11-7 lead after a 5-1 run, which prompted the Tigers to take a timeout. The break did little to kill Duke's momentum, however, as the Blue Devils came out and continued the run with another 4-1 tear to go ahead by eight at 16-8. That run forced another Clemson timeout, but Duke stayed hot and came out with three straight points following an attack error to go ahead 19-9. Clemson finally got back on track and opened a 5-2 run to narrow the deficit to 22-15, but gave Duke the win with three errors to run the final score to 25-17.

The first-set loss sparked a fire under the Tigers, who after making 11 attack errors in the first set made just four in the second set on the way to a 27-25 win. Abbott put the team on her back and put down seven of her 18 attacks without an error, including the go-ahead kill that ran the score to 25-24 in Clemson's favor and the set-clinching kill that capped the 27-25 victory. The set was a tug of war between the teams that featured 10 lead changes, including four after they battled to a 20-20 tie. Duke jumped ahead 24-23 to come within one point of taking a 2-0 lead in the match, but Clemson responded with consecutive kills from Kelsey Murphy and Abbott to turn the tables and take a 25-24 lead. Norman knotted the score for the Blue Devils with her fifth kill of the frame, but could not keep Hepburn and Abbott from closing out the match with Clemson's final two kills.

The narrow loss did little to Duke's confidence, however, as the Blue Devils found themselves in a similar situation in the third set, but this time came out on the winning end after Sue Carls and Norman put down consecutive kills to break a 25-25 tie and lock up the win. The senior duo combined for seven kills in the affair while Moss put down five more to give her 14 for the match. Duke faced an early deficit after Clemson connected on five of the first 10 attacks to take a 9-2 lead. Duke battled back with an 8-3 run, however, and eventually tied it up at 16-16 before Clemson called a timeout. Smalzer played a big role in the comeback, as she slowed down the Tiger offense on the way to finishing with nine digs in the frame. Following the break, the teams traded three leads and battled to a 25-25 tie which set the stage for Catanach to serve up the final two kills to Norman and Carls.

With a 2-1 lead, the Blue Devils needed to take just one more set to pull out the win. The Tigers would not go quietly, however, and put themselves in position to knot the match at 2-2, but gave way to four straight Duke points that broke a 21-21 tie and clinched the match. Robertson added the final two points with service aces, her 27th and 28th of the season, which she dropped in against Ege in the back of the court. While Robertson closed out the final set, Catanach got the Blue Devils there after distributing the ball to six different Blue Devils, excluding herself, who had at least one kill in the finale. Burling, Moss and Dunworth had four apiece, while Robertson, Norman and Carls also got in on the action with one each. Catanach would finish with 14 assists, including three on Duke's final five points.

Now tied for first place with the Tigers, Duke will have to fight off second-place Georgia Tech on Saturday, Nov. 8, in Cameron Indoor Stadium. The Blue Devils defeated the Yellow Jackets 3-2 in their last meeting after coming from behind in set five to win the finale 18-16.

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