Upcoming Event: Volleyball versus #25 North Carolina on October 4, 2025 at 2 PM
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2 PM
Volleyball
vs #25 North Carolina
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Friday, October 15
Charlottesville, Va.
7:00 p.m.
Duke University
3
at
0
Virginia
Gray Flawless in 3-0 Win Over Virginia
10/15/2010 9:57:00 PM | Volleyball
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Christiana Gray connected on 8-of-11 attacks with no errors to lead Duke past Virginia 3-0 (25-12, 25-16, 25-16) on Saturday evening in Memorial Gymnasium.
Gray, who ranks third in the ACC with a .387 hitting percentage, posted a season-high .727 clip against the Cavaliers. The 6-5 sophomore improved as the match progressed and ended the night by going 5-for-6 in set three.
Duke (16-3, 8-1 ACC) won its 10th straight match in the series against Virginia with a dominant defensive effort that featured six blocks from senior middle Becci Burling and 9.5 total stops from the team. Virginia (9-9, 3-5 ACC) managed only a .048 clip, thanks to the Duke trio of Ali McCurdy, Nailah Waterfield and Claire Smalzer who each posted double-digit digs and accounted for 32 of the team's 51 pickups.
“I'm really excited with the outcome tonight after struggling last night with our own play,” Duke head coach Jolene Nagel said. “I felt like tonight the team really responded positively in how they prepared and how they came ready to compete at the start of the match. I also felt like they did a great job of communicating out there tonight which helped everything flow better. They committed themselves more to blocking and defense, and that made everything flow better.
“Tonight, everyone continued to work as a team and had confidence in themselves and eachother. I'm really pleased with their performance and for playing how they're capable of playing.”
Gray led an offensive effort that saw four players hit .316 or better. Along with Gray's .727 clip, junior middle blocker Amanda Robertson went 7-for-16 with no errors, Burling went 9-for-19 and junior setter Kellie Catanach went 4-for-9 without a fault. Catanach also dished out 30 assists to move into fourth place on Duke's all-time assists list with 3,399 career helpers.
Duke made a statement in the opening set, holding Virginia to a -.030 hitting percentage on the way to a 25-12 win. Burling dominated at the net, posting three blocks and four kills without an attack error. Beginning at a 9-9 tie, Duke broke the set open with a 16-3 run that featured eight consecutive points and all four of Burling's kills.
Burling's dominance continued into the second set where she kept her errorless pace alive with a 3-for-4 performance. With the contributions from Burling and also Robertson, who was 5-for-11 through the first two frames, Duke took set two 25-16 to stake a 2-0 lead. McCurdy continued to lock down Virginia's offense, picking up four more digs to hold the Cavaliers to a .079 hitting percentage.
Gray took over in set three and knocked down five of six attacks in the match-clinching 25-16 win. Catanach also came through with two kills, two aces and a pair of blocks as Duke held the Cavaliers to a .088 clip in the final frame.
Up next for Duke is a trip to Florida on Oct. 22-24 where the Blue Devils will square off against Miami and No. 22 Florida State
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Players Mentioned
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