Blue Devils Top Florida State 3-1 To Win First ACC Match

Friday, September 26

Durham, N.C.

7:00 p.m.

Duke University

Florida State

Blue Devils Top Florida State 3-1 To Win First ACC Match

9/26/2008 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball

By: Duke Sports Information

DURHAM, N.C. ? Rachael Moss picked up her team-leading seventh double-double of the season with 18 kills and 19 digs to lead the Duke volleyball team to a 3-1 (25-17, 25-17, 21-25, 25-22) win over Florida State Friday evening in Cameron Indoor Stadium.

The win was the first ACC victory of the season for Duke (10-4, 1-1 ACC) which also received a double-digit effort from senior Sue Carls. Carls, a 6-1 outside hitter from Sherman Oaks, Calif., matched a season-high with 11 kills on a .391 hitting percentage and went 3-for-6 without an error in Duke's fourth-set, match-clinching victory.

While Moss and Carls led the offense, it was a defensive stand by the Blue Devils that was the difference, as Duke had 14.5 blocks and 75 digs on the way to holding Florida State to a .134 hitting percentage. Senior middle blocker Jourdan Norman was in on seven of those stops while Carls and sophomore Becci Burling each turned in five as well. Sophomore libero Claire Smalzer was there when the Seminoles got past the Duke block and finished just four digs short of reaching the 30-dig club for the second time this season. Norman's 26 digs led the team, while Moss and setter Kellie Catanach also reached double digits in the category.

“I was pleased to see our team rebound after our performance last night,” said Duke head coach Jolene Nagel, who was honored before the match for achieving her 400th career win on Sept. 20. “I thought we did a great job of being ready to compete tonight against Florida State. Everyone executed well from the start of the first set, and that allowed us to gain some momentum that we carried throughout the match.”

Duke's production came from the entire lineup, as Burling was one of five Blue Devils with seven or more kills, turning in nine to top freshman Sophia Dunworth's eight and Norman's seven. Catanch also collected four kills in addition to her 46 assists, while freshman classmate Amanda Robertson contributed two points with a pair of service aces.

Florida State (9-4, 1-2 ACC) had three players with 10 or more digs in Jordana Price (14), Lauren Young (10) and Stephanie Neville (10), but had trouble getting past Duke's blocks as setter Nikki Baker had just 33 percent of her sets go down for kills. The Seminoles matched Duke's blocking effort with 11 stops of their own, including six from Lauren Young, but gave up 58 kills and four aces to Duke. Libero Ashlee Moon did her best to keep Duke in check and racked up 24 digs.

The Blue Devils suffocated Florida State in the opening set and held the Seminoles to a .019 hitting percentage on the way to a 25-17 win. Duke gave up just nine kills while forcing eight attack errors and held sophomore outside hitter Lauren Richardson to just two kills on her 21 attacks. Meanwhile, Moss connected on six of her 15 attacks and picked up eight digs in the opening set win, while Dunworth put back three of Duke's four blocks, including a solo stop. Dunworth and Carls also had four kills and just one error apiece as part of an offensive effort that staked Duke an eight-point lead at 18-10. The lead came after Duke broke open a 9-8 lead with a 9-2 run that included five Duke kills, four of which came on assists from Catanach. The Blue Devils would trail by no less than five for the remainder of the match before Dunworth closed out the win with her fourth kill.

Duke's offense took over in the second set as the Blue Devils hammered 18 kills and made just two attack errors on the way to a .500 clip. Burling had the two errors, but led Duke with five kills, while Moss turned in a 4-for-6 performance, Norman went 3-for-5 and Catanach and Carls each contributed two kills. Norman and Carls each worked their way in on three of Duke's four blocks, including two straight stops by the senior duo. For the second straight match, Duke broke open a 9-8 lead with a run of 11-5, thanks to a pair of kills each from Moss and Norman. Ahead 20-14, Aana Wherry connected for her first kill of the evening to precede kills from Catanach and two more from Burling to end the match.

Florida State would get back on track in the third set, however, and hit .273 with two service aces and three blocks on the way to a 25-21 win to fight off the loss. Lauren Young and Price turned in four kills apiece with just one error between them while Young also came through with three blocks. Setter Nikki Baker was successful on 12 of her 23 sets in the outing and also helped out on a pair of blocks. The Seminoles overcame an early five-point deficit and tied the match at 17-17 before outscoring Duke 8-4 over the final stretch.

With their lead cut to one set, the Blue Devils turned to Norman, who came through with four blocks and several other putbacks in the final set to lead the team to a 25-22 match-clinching victory. Florida State controlled the match early and led by as much as four points at 13-8, but gave way to a 10-3 Blue Devil run that put Duke ahead for the remainder of the match. Three of Norman's blocks came during that run while also pounded three kills during the tear. Norman would add one more block to put Duke ahead 19-17 before giving way to Smalzer, who went on to rack up eight of her 26 digs during the set. Behind the defensive effort of Norman and Smalzer and 11 errorless serve receptions from Moss, the Blue Devils were able to hold Florida State to a .103 clip in the final set without allowing a single service ace.

“I was excited to see after losing the third set was how everyone really lifted their level of play another notch when we were in the midst of not taking advantage of our opportunities,” Nagel said. “That was key in winning that last set.”

Up next for the Blue Devils is a rare mid-week meeting at Wake Forest on Tuesday, Sept. 30. The Blue Devils will face the Demon Deacs at 7 p.m. before returning to Cameron Indoor Stadium for a pair of rivalry matches against North Carolina on Friday, Oct. 4, and NC State on Saturday, Oct. 5. Both home matches will begin at 7 p.m.

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