Middles Key Road Victory at Boston College

Friday, October 28

Chestnut Hill, Mass.

7:30 PM

Duke University

Boston College

Tucker Completes Standout Collegiate Career

Middles Key Road Victory at Boston College

10/28/2016 10:00:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

By: Duke Sports Information

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – Duke middle blockers Jordan Tucker and Leah Meyer combined for 34 kills to lead Duke past Boston College 3-1 (24-26, 25-8, 25-23, 25-15) Friday evening at Power Gym.

Tucker led all players with a season-high 21 kills while Meyer contributed 13. Duke's middle blockers both hit above .420, combining for a .500 clip on the night.

“Our middles were very successful when we got them the ball,” said head coach Jolene Nagel. “We need them to take on this kind of role and it's exciting to see that they're taking that challenge and rolling with it. They were mixing it up a lot and really working hard to transition and be available. A lot of credit to them for the hard work they put in as middle blockers and to be in there to hit. They just didn't stop.”

Freshman setter Cindy Marina orchestrated Duke's 5-1 offense with 45 assists and five kills to go along with eight digs and a service ace. Tonight's match marked Marina's fifth-straight with 40 or more assists.

Duke's defense was strong yet again, limiting its 13^th opponent to a hitting percentage under .200. The Blue Devils picked up 80 digs, led by libero Sasha Karelov's 30. Defensive specialists Chloe DiPasquale and Nicole Elattrache both topped 10 digs, adding 12 and 10, respectively. As a result, the Eagles hit .125 for the night.

The Duke block was also in full force as the Blue Devils outblocked the Eagles 14-6. Meyer and freshman rightside hitter Samantha Amos totaled eight blocks each to pace Duke at the net.

“Sasha [Karelov] had a great match and she controlled the ball really well,” Nagel added. “Samie [Amos] has been really productive for us as well. Our game plan helped us blocking. That blocking helps our defense so we can dig a lot of balls.”

Both teams put together a series of runs in the first before Boston College closed out a 26-24 victory. Down four, Duke surged ahead 22-15, but Boston College ended the set on an 11-2 run. Julia Topor sent down four of her seven kills in the set to instigate the rally and Jasmine Gritton finished it off with a kill of her own.

“It was tough to have a lead and relinquish it and let them back in,” Nagel said. “We had to execute. We started out doing that, but we had to make a few adjustments initially. Once we figured out what we needed to go against their hitters, we worked better together and made things happen.”

After a closely contested opening frame, Duke thoroughly dominated the second, 25-8. The Blue Devils downed 10 kills on a .333 clip while the Eagles posted four on a -.129 hitting percentage. The Duke block put up 5.0 stops in the frame to keep BC at bay. The two teams split the opening eight points, but it was all Duke the rest of the match as the Blue Devils outscored the Eagles 21-4.

Duke fell behind four points early before Meyer took over with four straight kills midway through the third set. The Blue Devils stormed ahead 20-17 on back-to-back Meyer and Amos blocks. BC retaliated to knot the score at 20-all, but a pair of Eagle miscues gave Duke separation. Tucker's 17^th kills established set point and the senior middle blocker ended the stanza, 25-23, on a solo block.

Duke opened the fourth set on a 9-2 tear aided by streaks with defensive specialists Nicole Elattrache and Kelli Kalinoski behind the service line. Kalinoski finished the night with three aces. The Blue Devils never let Boston College back into the set, ultimately capturing the stanza 25-15.

“We're really excited to get this one tonight,” Nagel added. “The wonderful thing about tonight is we had to turn to different people and they stepped up and did a great job.”

The Blue Devils next head to Syracuse for a 1 p.m., match against the Orange Sunday, Oct. 30.

NOTES

Senior Jordan Tucker led the team with a season-high 21 kills. She knocked down 10-plus kills for the 16^th time this season. Tucker Hit above .300 for the 10^th time in 2016. In addition, Tucker added five blocks and five digs.
Senior Sasha Karelov totaled a team-high 30 digs, bringing her career total to 1,835. Following tonight's performance Karelov moved into third all-time at Duke in career digs, surpassing Ashley Wacholder (1,818).
Freshman Cindy Marina dished out 40-plus assists for the fifth-consecutive match, totaling 45. She finished two digs shy of her 14^th double-double, picking up eight.
Freshman Samantha Amos finished with a career-high eight blocks. She also added five kills.
Freshman Natalie Schilling ended with a career-high six kills and 17 attempts.