Duke Secures Louisville Sweep

Friday, November 4

Durham, N.C.

3:00 PM

Duke University

Louisville

Duke Secures Louisville Sweep

11/4/2016 5:55:00 PM | Volleyball

Amos Postgame: Duke 3, Louisville 0 Nagel Postgame: Duke 3, Louisville 0 Meyer Postgame: Duke 3, Louisville 0 Box Score (HTML)Box Score (PDF)

By: Duke Sports Information

DURHAM, N.C. – Led by a career-high 15 kills from freshman rightside hitter Samantha Amos, Duke secured its sixth sweep of the season with a 3-0 (25-22, 26-24, 25-15) victory over Louisville Friday afternoon in Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Amos tallied her 15 kills on 25 attempts, hitting .520 with two attack errors. The freshman was one of three Blue Devils to hit .470 or better, joined by middles Leah Meyer and Jordan Tucker. Meyer topped 10 kills for the fourth straight match, sending down 13 while hitting .522. Tucker added nine kills on 17 swings, good for a .471 clip.

Meyer and Amos were also strong at the net, contributing six and five blocks, respectively. Duke (17-6, 11-2 ACC) outblocked Louisville (7-16, 2-11) 9.0 TO 3.0 for the match.

Freshman setter Cindy Marina notched her team-leading 14th double-double of the season with 44 assists and 10 digs. Marina dished out 40-plus assists for the seventh-straight match and helped Duke post a .304 hitting percentage against the Cardinals.

In contrast, Louisville hit .169, marking the 15th time this season Duke has held its opponent to a hitting percentage under .200. The ACC leader in digs per set, Duke amassed 66 digs in three sets Friday. Senior libero Sasha Karelov led the way with 18, followed by senior defensive specialist Chloe DiPasquale (12), freshman outside hitter Jamie Stivers (12) and Marina (10).

Only one Cardinal, Tess Clark, reached double-digit kills. Clark totaled a team-high 11 on .450 to provide a spark for Louisville.

“We're pretty excited to get the win and to get it in three is even better,” said head coach Jolene Nagel. “The first two sets we really had to stay focused. We didn't go on a lot of runs and had to grind it out. Proud of our team to hang tough during those times and be able to finish.”

Led by six Meyer kills, Duke never trailed in a 25-22 first set. The Blue Devils registered three service aces – two from DiPasqaule and one from Stivers – to establish an early 8-4 margin. Louisville cut the deficit to a point, 15-14, but Duke responded with back-to-back kills courtesy of Meyer and Amos. Those two ultimately finished the set as Meyer sent down a kill for set point and Amos finished it off with a kill of her own.

Up 10-7 to start the second, Duke's lead waned over the middle portion of the stanza following a 7-1 Cardinal stretch. The Blue Devils regained momentum with a 6-2 run of their own, taking a 17-15 lead on a Meyer and Cadie Bates block. The set went down to the wire after Louisville knotted the score, 24-24. Meyer notched a kill then teamed up with Amos for the block to give Duke a 2-0 overall advantage.

A Tucker and Amos block capped an 11-5 third-set start for the Blue Devils. Duke won the frame by a decisive 25-15 margin, outhitting the Cardinals .378 to .094. Meyer had five of Duke's 18 kills in the set, while Louisville totaled seven. Up 24-15, Amos recorded her 15th kill to wrap up the Blue Devil win.

“Samie's been doing well all year,” Nagel added. “Offensively she's been doing a great job for us. She's also doing a great job of setting up the block on that right side.”

Duke returns to Cameron Sunday, Nov. 6 to take on Notre Dame at 12 p.m., on ACC Network Extra.

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