Duke Takes Out Virginia Tech 3-1

Friday, November 13

Blacksburg, Va.

5:00 p.m.

Duke University

Virginia Tech

Duke Places ACC-Leading Six on ACC All-Academic Team

Duke Takes Out Virginia Tech 3-1

11/13/2009 7:00:00 PM | Volleyball

By: Duke Sports Information

BLACKSBURG, Va. - Rachael Moss delivered her team-leading 10^th double-double of the season with 15 kills and 20 digs to lead Duke past Virginia Tech 3-1 (25-20, 26-24, 23-25, 25-21) Friday evening at Cassell Coliseum.

Moss hit .293 in the match and made just three errors on her team-high 41 attacks. She had six kills in each of the first two sets and all 20 of her digs in the first three games. Along with 18 digs from libero Claire Smalzer, Duke's defensive play forced Virginia Tech (17-10, 7-9 ACC) to hit just .135 for the match.

Moss was one of two Blue Devils with double-digit kills, joining junior middle blocker Becci Burling, who finished with a team-high 17 on a .297 clip. Burling put away seven of those kills in game four to seal the win. She also had three of Duke's 12 blocks.

"Our team worked together tonight to get the win over Virginia Tech," head coach Jolene Nagel said. "The points were hard-fought. Our block did a good job of scoring some points at crucial times."

Freshman middle blocker Christiana Gray shut down Virginia Tech with eight blocks while fellow middle Amanda Robertson and setter Kellie Catanach also worked their way in on three stops apiece. Catanach directed the offense with 43 assists and a pair of service aces.

Virginia Tech's lone bright spots were Felicia Willoughby, who went 21-for-46 attacking for a .348 clip, and Cara Baarendse, who finished 11-for-21 with a .476 clip. The rest of the Hokies combined to hit just -.042, however, which proved to be the difference.

The Blue Devils could not gain much separation against the Hokies through most of the first set, but finally broke through with a 5-1 run that capped a 25-20 first set victory. The Hokies had no answer for Moss, who connected on six of her team-leading 14 attacks in the win. Moss also took care of Virginia Tech's offense, collecting seven digs to hold the Hokies to a .175 hitting percentage. Duke, meanwhile, hit .278 behind a 10-assist performance from Catanach, who also helped out on both of Duke's blocks.

The Hokies once again made it tough on Duke to pull out a win in the second game, but the Blue Devils again came through in the clutch, pulling out a 26-24 win. Virginia Tech never trailed by more than three points and came back to tie the match at 24-24, thanks to a six-kill performance from Willoughby. Duke, however, countered with the middle-blocking duo of Gray and Robertson, who scored the final two points on a joint block and a kill. After teaming up to put back an attack from Justine Record to run the score to 25-24, Robertson tossed up an ensuing set to Gray, who put it down for the game winner. The block was one of four in that set for Gray, who chalked up five stops through the first two sets.

The Hokies finally broke through with a 25-23 win in set three, however, thanks to a combined five team blocks, the last of which locked up the narrow win. Despite falling into a 14-9 deficit, Virginia Tech rallied with a 6-1 run that tied the game at 15-15. From there, the Hokies kept it tight, never trailing by more than three points. With the match tied at 19-19, Virginia Tech gave away three points on errors, two of which were on attacks and one of which was on a Duke block from Gray and freshman Megan Hendrickson. The Hokies stormed back with three straight points of their own, however, and battled to a 23-23 deadlock. Leaser then set up teammate Taylor Parrish for her third kill of the night to give Virginia Tech a 24-23 lead. From there, Virginia Tech put back Duke's final attack on a block from Willoughby and Parrish to take the game and cut the match deficit to 2-1.

The fourth set was all Duke, however, as the Blue Devils ended the match with a 25-21 fourth-set victory. The Hokies could not stop Burling, who delivered seven of her 17 kills in the final set while making just two attack errors. At the start of the game, Burling had four of Duke's five kills to give the Blue Devils a 5-2 lead which they never relinquished.

Duke continues its Virginia road trip with its last road match of the season on Saturday at 7 p.m. against Virginia. Duke will then return to Cameron Indoor Stadium on Nov. 20-21 to take on NC State and North Carolina.

-d-u-k-e-