Upcoming Event: Volleyball at Coastal Carolina on August 28, 2026 at 6 p.m.
/
6 p.m.
Volleyball
at Coastal Carolina
%20(1).png&width=24&height=24&type=webp)
Sunday, November 9
Syracuse, N.Y.
1:00 PM
Duke University
3
at
0
Syracuse
Blue Devils Sweep Orange on the Road
11/9/2014 3:51:00 PM | Volleyball
SYRACUSE, N.Y. – No. 25 Duke came away with a key conference road win, cruising past Syracuse 3-0 (25-16, 25-21, 25-19) Sunday afternoon at the Women's Building.
Syracuse (8-17, 1-12 ACC) was unable to keep pace with the Blue Devils' offense. Duke (18-6, 10-3 ACC) accumulated 54 kills, averaging 18 per set, while the Orange totaled 35. As a team, the Blue Devils posted a hitting percentage of .339, marking their 10th match hitting over .300.
“Today was a great team effort,” said head coach Jolene Nagel. “I thought we played the way we're capable. Our team was aggressive, but we were also able to minimize our errors.”
Four Duke players topped the 10-kill mark, led by outside hitter Emily Sklar. Sklar hit .333 and knocked down a match-high 16 kills. The San Jose, Calif., native added 11 digs to pick up her team-leading eighth double-double as well.
Middle blocker Jordan Tucker totaled an impressive 12 kills on just 18 attempts, good for a .611 hitting percentage. Tucker's five blocks also paced the Blue Devils. Duke also received 10 kills each from outside hitter Jeme Obeime and middle blocker Alyse Whitaker. Setter Kelsey Williams orchestrated the offense, amassing 49 assists and six digs.
“I was happy to see our middles get the number of opportunities they did out there,” Nagel said. “Our serving and our setting really helped us get the match today.”
Libero Sasha Karelov once again anchored Duke's defense. The sophomore chipped in with 22 digs, topping the 20-dig threshold for the 11th time this season.
“We were really communicating out there on the court and that made our defense flow more smoothly,” Nagel added. “We controlled the ball well on the first touch.”
A 10-2 run midway through the opening frame propelled Duke to a 25-16 win. Tucker notched all five of her first-set kills in that span and added a pair of blocks to spark the Blue Devil rally. A 3-0 Syracuse spurt trimmed the margin to 19-16, but the Blue Devils countered with a 3-0 stretch of their own to secure the lead. Up 24-16, Sklar finished off the victory with an ace.
Duke's offense was dominant in the first set as the Blue Devils posted a .452 hitting percentage while Syracuse hit .158.
After falling behind 3-1 in the second set, Duke scored seven of the next nine points to establish an 8-5 advantage. Sklar and Whitaker contributed two kills each during the run. Duke would not trail the rest of the way, leading by as many as seven points.
With the Blue Devils up 20-13, Syracuse scored four unanswered points, instigating a Duke timeout. The Blue Devils then responded with a 3-0 run of their own, including an Orange error, Obeime kill and Laura Williams ace. Tucker's eighth kill of the match sealed Duke's 25-21 second-set victory.
Behind seven Sklar kills, Duke completed the sweep, its 11th of the season, with a 25-19 third-set decision. Duke won six of the first eight points and did not let Syracuse closer than three points. After the Orange cut the margin to 10-7, the Blue Devils put the set out of reach with a 5-1 run.
Lindsay McCabe totaled nine kills and three blocks to lead Syracuse.
With five regular season matches remaining on the schedule, Duke returns to Cameron Indoor Stadium this week for its final two home contests. The Blue Devils square off against Florida State Thursday, Nov. 13 before hosting Notre Dame Sunday, Nov. 16.
#GoDuke
Players Mentioned
DS/L
/ Volleyball
OH
/ Volleyball
OH
/ Volleyball
MB
/ Volleyball
MB
/ Volleyball
S
/ Volleyball
OH/DS
/ VolleyballThursday, November 13
Wednesday, December 04
Saturday, November 16
Wednesday, November 13
