Duke Downs Notre Dame to Win Seventh Straight

Sunday, October 5

Notre Dame, Ind.

1:00 PM

Duke University

Notre Dame

Duke Downs Notre Dame to Win Seventh Straight

10/5/2014 4:16:00 PM | Volleyball

By: Duke Sports Information

NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The 25th-ranked Duke volleyball jumped out to a 2-0 lead and held on down the stretch to pick up a 3-1 (25-18, 25-21, 20-25, 25-23) road victory over Notre Dame Sunday afternoon at Purcell Pavilion. The win, Duke's seventh consecutive, improves the Blue Devils' record to 12-3 overall and 4-0 in the ACC.

“It's great to get an ACC win on the road,” said head coach Jolene Nagel. “Notre Dame is a good team and they have a great home environment. We really had to work hard to get that fourth set. I'm happy we came away with this one, but we need to continue to get better with our communication on the court and how we control the tempo of the match.”

Duke held the advantage in both kills, 65-49, and digs, 61-51. One of four Blue Devils to reach double-digit kills, junior Emily Sklar's 18 kills led all players. Sklar also added six digs, two blocks and an ace.

Senior Jeme Obeime was next with 15 kills, followed by middle blockers Jordan Tucker and Alyse Whitaker with 12 and 11, respectively. Tucker hit .435 on 23 attempts in addition to contributing a team-high five blocks.

“Jordan's definitely been solid,” Nagel stated. “She's been more offensive for us this past weekend, so that's really nice to see. She's just getting in there faster for the ball and we're excited the setter's been able to get her the ball a little bit more.”

Senior setter Kelsey Williams dished out 52 assists to mark her third match with 50 or more assists this season. Williams also registered a career-high five kills to go along with seven digs and an ace.

Defensively, libero Sasha Karelov led all players with 23 digs. The Raleigh, N.C., native now has seven matches this season with 20-plus digs, including both contests this weekend.

“Sasha has been doing a tremendous job for us in the libero position,” Nagel said. “That shows up in the numbers we've been seeing from her so consistently. Her serve, her serve receive and her defense have really been solid for us. She is anchoring our defense.”

Tied at 13-13 in the first set, Duke won six of the next eight points to take control of the frame. After Notre Dame (4-11, 1-3 ACC) cut the margin to 19-17, the Blue Devils rattled off four straight points, including a pair of Atkinson aces. An Irish service error and Obeime kill finished off the first set, a 25-18 Duke win.

Sklar dropped eight kills in Duke's 25-21 second set victory. The two teams once again battled to a 13-13 stalemate before the Blue Devils made their run. Along with a Laura Williams ace, kills from Sklar, Whitaker and Obeime helped Duke stake an 18-15 advantage. Notre Dame came no closer the rest of the way and Duke's final four points all came via Sklar kills.

Duke hit .357 and .381 in the first and second sets, respectively, but could not get going in the third frame. The Blue Devils committed 13 attack errors and posted a .029 hitting percentage as Notre Dame captured the third set, 25-20. The Irish took control of the frame with a 4-0 spurt to break a 6-6 stalemate. Duke made a run late, cutting a 23-15 deficit down to 23-20, but it was too little too late for the Blue Devils.

“We started out strong and really minimized errors, but we committed too many errors in set three and didn't make enough plays to make up for it,” Nagel said.

The Blue Devils' third set troubles seemed to be in the past as Duke jumped out to an 8-3 start in set four. Notre Dame continued to plug away, cutting the deficit to 18-17 following a Nicole Smith kill, one of her team-leading 11. Kills from Sklar and Williams gave Duke breathing room and the Blue Devils put away the match with kills from Tucker and Sklar.

“We have to make sure we stay disciplined,” added Nagel. “In set four, we did a little bit better: we served better, we passed better and we covered better. We're going to learn from this match as a team. We're going to continue to go on the road in challenging environments and we've got to be able to control what we do on our side of the court.”

Duke's road adventures continue this coming weekend with trips to Boston College and Wake Forest on the docket. The Blue Devils face the Eagles Friday, Oct. 10 at 7 p.m. in Chestnut Hill, Mass. Duke then returns to North Carolina for a 12 p.m. matchup at Wake Forest Sunday, Oct. 12.

#GoDuke