Saint Mary's Hands No. 18 Duke First Loss, 3-2

Friday, September 2

Stanford, Calif.

7:30 PM

Duke University

Saint Mary's

Saint Mary's Hands No. 18 Duke First Loss, 3-2

9/2/2011 10:11:00 PM | Volleyball

By: Duke Sports Information

STANFORD, Calif. - Saint Mary's handed 18^th-ranked Duke its first loss of the season on Friday night at the Stanford Invitational, edging the Blue Devils 3-2 (27-25, 18-25, 25-17, 25-27, 15-4) in Maples Pavilion.

After Duke (4-1) rallied to win set four 27-25 and force a fifth set, Saint Mary's setter Missy White directed the Gaels offense to a .417 hitting percentage in the final game. Saint Mary's did not make a single attack error in the fifth set.

Duke senior Sophia Dunworth led the team with 15 kills, including the 1,000^th of her career. The 6-1 outside hitter and middle blocker becomes just the 20^th player in school history to reach the 1,000-kill mark. Duke has now had a player reach 1,000 kills for six consecutive seasons.

Despite Dunworth's milestone, however, the Gaels offense prevailed thanks to White, who dished out 52 assists, and attackers Jordan Shaw (17 kills), Gabby Jolly (12) and Lauren Corp (10), who all had double-digit kills. Saint Mary's (2-3) totaled nine service aces in the victory.

The Blue Devils used a strong block early in the match and amassed 11 stops in the first three sets. Saint Mary's adjusted in game four, however, and hit into just one block the rest of the way. For Duke, the middle blocking duo of Christiana Gray (six blocks) and senior Amanda Robertson (five blocks) led the charge at the net.

Despite 44 assists and a double-double from All-America setter Kellie Catanach, the Blue Devils had trouble finding consistency against the Gaels, hitting .345 in game one and .349 in game four but under .200 in the other three sets. Duke outside hitter Megan Hendrickson finished with 14 kills - her third time this season in double figures - and Gray added 10.

Saint Mary's libero Sarah Reams and All-ACC Duke libero Ali McCurdy matched each other's production from their positions as each had at least 20 digs and no receiving errors. McCurdy has now picked up at least 20 digs in four of her five matches this season and leads the ACC with 102 digs and 4.86 digs per set.

While the liberos battled one another across the net, the difference for Saint Mary's came from Jolly and Natalie Loos, however, who each had six blocks as part of the Gaels' 12-block effort. Nine of Saint Mary's' blocks came over the final three games, including three in the decisive 15-4 win in set five.

Duke will play its first top-25 opponent of the season on Saturday against sixth-ranked Stanford at 8 p.m. (EST). Stanford is 2-0 heading into their Friday night match against Notre Dame.

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