North Carolina Upsets Duke 3-1 in Chapel Hill

Friday, October 16

Chapel Hill, N.C.

5:00 PM

Duke University

North Carolina

North Carolina Upsets Duke 3-1 in Chapel Hill

10/16/2009 6:45:00 PM | Volleyball

By: Duke Sports Information

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - Ingrid Hanson-Tuntland connected on 10 kills and blocks seven attacks to lead North Carolina to a 3-1 (25-22, 20-25, 25-16, 25-21) win over Duke Friday evening in the Dean E. Smith Center.

Hanson-Tuntland was one of four Tar Heels with at least 10 kills, joining Suzanne Haydel, who lead the team with 15, Heather Brooks (12) and Branagan Fuller (10). North Carolina (9-9, 5-2 ACC) held Duke to a .134 hitting percentage, which is Duke's lowest mark since playing No. 1 Penn State on Sept. 12, 2009.

The Tar Heels, who entered the match ranked second in the conference in digs per set, also got 22 digs from libero Kaylie Gibson in addition to 11 team blocks. The resulting win gave Duke back-to-back losses for the first time since August 29-30, 2008, when the Blue Devils fell to two ranked opponents to start the season.

The Blue Devils (16-4, 6-2 ACC) got 13 kills from Sophia Dunworth, 12 from Becci Burling and 11 from Amanda Robertson, but had trouble stringing together any runs against the Tar Heel front. Thanks to a 25-dig performance from libero Claire Smalzer and 10 team blocks - including four from Amanda Robertson and three from Christiana Gray - Duke matched North Carolina defensively, but could not make up the difference on the offensive end.

The opening set featured a defensive struggle in which neither Duke nor North Carolina hit over .100. Duke tried to exploit North Carolina's weaknesses in the serving game and got two aces from Robertson, but still fell 25-22 after the Tar Heels totaled three blocks and got a pair of seven-dig outings from Suzanne Haydel and Kaylie Gibson. Duke trailed for most of the match, but rallied with a 6-2 run to reclaim an 18-17 lead. That lead was short-lived, however, as North Carolina bounced back to tie the match at 20-20 before scoring two straight to jump back on top 22-20. Robertson fought back with a kill for Duke, but the Tar Heels closed out the opener with a game-clinching 3-1 run to take the first set.

Dunworth connected on five kills without making an attack error to help Duke knot the match at 1-1 after a 25-20 second-set victory. Duke led by as much as five points early, but could not break away from the Tar Heels. Down 10-5, North Carolina rallied to tie the match at 14-14 and then retied it twice more. The Blue Devils, however, turned it up when they needed to, especially at the net where they finished with four blocks en route to the win. Duke used that block to stop any momentum from going North Carolina's way, as the Blue Devils never allowed the Tar Heels to reclaim the lead. Burling and setter Kellie Catanach each had two of those stops, while Catanach also finished with 14 assists. Smalzer and Rachael Moss also contributed defensively with a combined 12 digs to hold North Carolina to a .071 hitting percentage.

North Carolina turned the tables in the third set, however, jumping out to a 15-6 lead before finishing off a 25-16 win. North Carolina hit .300 in the game, thanks to a 4-for-8 effort from Fuller and 4-for-7 showing from Hanson-Tuntland. Despite the early deficit, however, Robertson and Gray sparked a short Duke rally by teaming up to block two North Carolina attacks as part of four consecutive points for the Blue Devils. The run closed the deficit to 15-10 and prompted a North Carolina timeout, which was just what North Carolina needed to cut into Duke's momentum. Duke managed to match the Tar Heels point-for-point to run the score to 21-16, but then gave way to four straight North Carolina points to end the match. Haydel had consecutive kills during the final run before Brooks finished it off with her eighth kill of the evening.

Neither team could break away in the fourth set, as the teams battled to a 15-15 tie with neither squad leading by more than three until the end of the game. Duke scratched out a 19-17 lead, but quickly had the flipped when North Carolina scored four straight to overtake the Blue Devils 21-19. That streak continued after a Duke timeout when the Tar Heels rattled off two more points before Duke got back on the board with consecutive kills from Gray and Burling. The comeback effort was too late, however, as the Tar Heels got kills from Haydel and Fuller to lock up the win.

Duke will continue its in-state road trip on Saturday in Raleigh when the Blue Devils take on NC State at 6 p.m.

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