Duke Rallies to Down Wake Forest in Five

Wednesday, October 12

Winston-Salem, N.C.

7:00 PM

Duke University

Wake Forest

Duke Rallies to Down Wake Forest in Five

10/12/2016 10:16:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score (PDF)

By: Duke Sports Information

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Down four points in the fifth, Duke rallied late to knock off Wake Forest 3-2 (20-25, 25-22, 22-25, 25-17, 15-12) Wednesday evening in Lawrence Joel Memorial Coliseum.

After trailing the fifth 6-2, Duke (12-5, 6-1 ACC) pulled within a point four times before finally tying the score 12-all on an Anna Kropf kill. Following a Wake Forest (7-11, 3-4 ACC) attack error, Jordan Tucker dropped a kill before Duke turned to Kropf again for the final kill. All four of Kropf's kills in the match came in the fifth to help the Blue Devils win their fourth five-set match of the season.

“We dug a big hole for ourselves in that fifth set, which you never want to do,” said head coach Jolene Nagel. “We did a good job of moving on to the next point. That first touch was really important. Anna stayed very in tune with the match. She came in and just did a great job to light us up at a crucial time.”

Tucker led the Blue Devils with 16 kills and four blocks, followed by freshman rigthside hitter Samantha Amos, who hammered a career-high 14 kills. Sophomore middle blocker Leah Meyer was the third Blue Devils in double-digit kills, adding 13. Those three also combined to post a .376 hitting percentage.

Freshman setter Cindy Marina dished out 58 assists to top the 50-assist threshold for the fourth time this season.

Wake Forest hit .298 over the first three frames before Duke's defense buckled down the final two sets. The Blue Devils limited the Demon Deacons to a .091 clip in the fourth, followed by a .136 mark in the fifth.

Senior libero Sasha Karelov surpassed 20 digs for the ninth time during the 2016 campaign, picking up a match-high 29. Defensive specialists Chloe Dipasquale and Nicole Elattrache chipped in with 11 digs apiece. In addition, Duke totaled 7.0 of its 10.0 blocks during the final two sets.

“Really excited we were able to block some balls more in the fourth and fifth sets,” Nagel added. “We weren't executing in the first set. We started doing better in the second. The block really helped us in the fourth set. Then we were able to relax a little bit and control the first touches better and create some more offense, too. Our middles continued to work their butts off out there to also be available on offense.”

Duke and Wake Forest split the match's first 12 points before the Demon Deacons mounted a 5-0 rally. Down 17-10, the Blue Devils went on a 4-0 stretch to trim the margin. Duke pulled within three several times, but could not overcome the deficit, falling 25-20.

The Blue Devils jumped out to a 7-3 advantage in the second and maintained the lead throughout, recording a 25-22 decision to even the match. Wake Forest threatened late, narrowing the margin to 22-20 before Amos knocked down a kill off a Duke timeout. Tucker salted away the set, dropping her sixth kill of the set in front of the Demon Deacon backline to seal the victory.

The two teams traded points throughout the third before Wake Forest emerged with a 25-22 win. Following an 18-all tie, the Demon Deacons received back-to-back kills from Kylie Long. Duke went to Amos for three kills down the stretch to keep within a point, but the Deacons closed out the frame with a Bailey Shurbet kill and block.

After hitting .298 the first three frames, Wake Forest posted a .091 clip with nine attack errors in the fourth, resulting in a 25-17 Duke win. The Blue Devils led 9-6 early and extended the difference to 18-12 down the stretch. Jessi Bartholomew and Meyer went up for the block to win the set and force a fifth frame.

“It's wonderful to be able to get a win on the road in the ACC because it's never easy,” Nagel said. “I'm really proud of them to gut it out and work their tails off out there to get it done.”

Duke returns to Cameron Indoor Stadium to face Virginia Saturday, Oct. 15 at 6:30 p.m.

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