Tucker Leads Duke Past Miami on Senior Day

Sunday, November 20

Durham, N.C.

1:00 PM

Duke University

Miami

Tucker Leads Duke Past Miami on Senior Day

11/20/2016 5:10:00 PM | Volleyball

Jolene Nagel Postgame: Duke 3, Miami 2 Jordan Tucker Highlights: Duke 3, Miami 2 VB Final Play: Duke 3 Miami 2 VB Set Four Final Point: Duke 3, Miami 2 Sasha Karelov Postgame: Duke 3, Miami 2 Vb Set 1 Final Point: Duke 3, Miami 2 Jordan Tucker Postgame: Duke 3, Miami 2 Photo Gallery Box Score (PDF)

By: Duke Sports Information

DURHAM, N.C. – Senior middle blocker Jordan Tucker notched career highs in kills and hitting percentage to lead Duke past Miami 3-2 on Senior Day Sunday afternoon in Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Tucker was dominant in her final Cameron contest, knocking down 25 kills on a .615 clip. With Duke (21-7, 15-3 ACC) down 2-1, she amassed 10 kills in the fourth to help tie the match and force the decisive fifth frame. Tucker committed one lone attack error on 39 attacks while also contributing seven blocks in the victorious effort.

Tucker led a contingent of four Blue Devils in double-digit kills. Fellow middle blocker Leah Meyer put down 14, including four in the final frame, while rightside hitter Samantha Amos and junior outside hitter Cadie Bates had 13 and 12, respectively.

The Blue Devils hit .313 as a team with setter Cindy Marina dishing out 61 assists.

Duke needed all its offensive production to counter Miami hitters Olga Strantzali and Anna Haak, who both finished with over 20 kills. Strantzali tallied 29 kills to Haak's 22 to pace the Hurricanes.

Defensively, Duke put up 12.5 blocks to the Hurricanes 6.0, led by seven stops each from Tucker and Amos. Libero Sasha Karelov picked up 20 digs while defensive specialist Chloe DiPasquale added 16, one short of her career high.

"It was an emotional day for sure because it was senior day," said head coach Jolene Nagel. "We started out executing really well and then we stopped. That's where Miami came back on us. It was two good teams playing hard today. Really excited that our team in set four could be more disciplined on our block and play a little bit better defense and control the first touch a little better so that we could really score some points. We did a good job of minimizing our errors in the fifth set.”

Duke never trailed in a dominant first set. The Blue Devils won eight of the match's first nine points and ultimately cruised to a 25-13 decision and 1-0 overall lead, hitting .423 to the Hurricanes' .129.

Miami was able to tie the match the following stanza behind eight Strantzali kills. Duke was unable to fully recover from a 6-2 Hurricane run early on, falling 25-18.

Miami emerged victorious in a third set that saw five lead changes and 13 ties. Down 24-21, Duke rallied to edge ahead, 25-24, with Karelov behind the service line. Miami countered with a Haak kill to even the score at 25-all. The two teams traded the next four points, resulting in a 27-27 tie. A Duke service error couple with a Blue Devil attack error ended the stalemate and Miami took the 2-1 overall margin.

The Hurricanes could do nothing to slow Tucker in the fourth as the team captain dropped 10 kills on 11 attempts to help Duke even the overall score. Duke won the set's first six points and maintained a comfortable lead until a Miami rally in the end. The Blue Devils' advantage dwindled to two, 22-20, following a 7-3 Hurricane stretch. Meyer put down a kill out of a Duke timeout and Tucker added two more to clinch the frame.

Duke hit .440 as a team in the conclusive five set behind four kills each from Meyer and Bates. The Blue Devils trailed, 6-5, before beginning a 6-2 run. Up 13-9, Duke received two Bates kills to wrap up the victory.

The Blue Devils wrap up the regular season on the road, traveling to North Carolina Wednesday, Nov. 23 and NC State Sunday, Nov. 26.

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