Notre Dame Hands Duke First ACC Loss

Friday, September 30

Notre Dame, Ind.

7:00 PM

Duke University

Notre Dame

Notre Dame Hands Duke First ACC Loss

9/30/2016 10:21:00 PM | Volleyball

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By: Duke Sports Information

NOTRE DAME, Ind. – In a tightly contested match, Notre Dame capitalized on its opportunities down the stretch to hand Duke its first ACC loss of the season 3-1 (23-25, 29-31, 26-24, 25-17) Friday evening in Purcell Pavilion.

The first three sets of Friday's match came down to the wire as Duke (8-5, 2-1 ACC) was unable to avoid attack errors in key moments against Notre Dame (12-3 3-0 ACC). The Blue Devils led the Irish in kills, 70-64, but Notre Dame totaled 10.0 more blocks as a team to help secure the win.

“[Notre Dame's] blocking was a big difference,” said head coach Jolene Nagel. “We need to do a better job of moving the ball around to avoid those errors. There were some critical times where we needed to make a play at the end of the close sets. We had opportunities to make some plays we didn't make. Our team showed a lot of fight with the adjustments we've had to make, but we're capable of eliminating more errors. That's what we need to do to win these close sets.”

Duke's backline picked up a season-high 123 digs, led by senior libero Sasha Karelov. Karelov set the Duke single-match record with 44 digs, pacing a contingent of five Blue Devils with 15 or more digs. Outside hitter Jamie Stivers added 20, defensive specialist Chloe DiPasquale notched 17, and outside hitter Cadie Bates and setter Cindy Marina added 15 apiece.

“Unfortunately we didn't block as many balls tonight, but we set up some good blocks to help our backline,” Nagel said. “[I'm] proud of the defense and how many balls we were able to dig.”

Offensively, middle blockers Jordan Tucker and Leah Meyer combined for 31 kills on 73 attempts. Tucker's 18 kills led all Blue Devils, followed by Meyer with 13.

“[Tucker & Meyer] were just getting it done for us tonight,” Nagel added. “They were really making themselves available on offense. We had to have a lot of good balls coming to target from our defense to get them 73 attempts. Then they took advantage of it.”

Duke received a pair of double-doubles from two freshmen. Marina matched her career high with 61 assists to notch her team-leading eighth double-double while Stivers added 13 kills to go along with her 20 digs. Rightside hitter and fellow rookie Samantha Amos contributed 11 kills, four blocks and three digs as well.

Notre Dame used a quick start and held off Duke down the stretch in a 25-23 first set victory. The Irish led by as many as five points before the Blue Devils made a late run to tie the frame at 21-all on a Notre Dame attack error. The two teams traded points to result in a 23-23 tie, but Notre Dame received a Kuhn kill and Duke attack errors to wrap up the set.

In a second set that mirrored the first, Notre Dame again escaped in narrow 31-29 decision. Duke fought off six set points before the Irish closed out with back-to-back kills from Sydney Kuhn and Rebecca Nunge.

Duke rallied from the marathon second to win the third, 26-24. After falling behind 4-1, Duke built an 18-14 cushion with the help of a couple Notre Dame miscues. Notre Dame used three-straight Jemma Yeadon kills to knot the score, 20-20, and the two teams proceeded to again trade points down the stretch. Duke held the upper hand this time, scoring three straight points after an ace made it 24-23 in favor of the Irish. Meyer and Stivers had a kill each to close out the third and Duke benefitted from a Notre Dame attack error.

The Irish used a 7-3 run to take control in the fourth after the two squads split the set's first 24 tallies. Duke was unable to answer, ultimately falling, 25-17.

Next up, the Blue Devils travel to Louisville for a 1 p.m., match Sunday, Oct. 2.

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