Duke Drops Five-Set Match to Michigan State

Friday, September 20

Durham, N.C.

6:30 PM

Duke University

4-6,0-0ACC

Michigan State

7-3,0-0Big Ten

Michigan St.

Duke

Duke Drops Five-Set Match to Michigan State

9/20/2024 10:36:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

DURHAM, N.C. – The Duke volleyball team dropped a hard-fought five-set match, 3-2 (22-25, 21-25, 25-20, 25-21, 10-15), against Michigan State Friday evening at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Outside hitter Kerry Keefe tallied a career-high 27 kills and just three errors on 59 swings to hit an impressive .407 percent, while Rachel Richardson and Rylie Kadel added 11 and 10 kills, respectively. Setter Nikki Quinn dished 45 assists, while libero Mailinh Godschall led the team with 17 digs. Keefe paced the serving with three aces, while three different Blue Devils tallied three blocks – Kadel, Tiffany Paalman and Taylor Williams.

Michigan State tallied a whopping 27 blocks as Zuzanna Kulig led the way with 11. Duke committed a season-high 17 service errors in the setback.

How It Happened

Duke quickly fell behind 2-0 after struggling to find its offense in the opening two sets as Michigan State tallied nine quick blocks in the first frame.
The Spartans hit .409 percent in the second set and added seven more blocks to earn a 2-0 lead in the match. The Blue Devils led 15-11, but the Spartans used a series of runs to regain the lead.
Duke regrouped after the set break and came out hitting .310 percent, led by Keefe's .429 percentage with a set-leading six kills.
The Blue Devils' block came alive in the fourth set, which proved to be vital in sending the match to a decisive fifth set. Paalman led the squad with two blocks, helping to limit the Spartans to their lowest hitting percentage of the match, .097.
In the fifth and final set, Duke's serve struggled with three errors in the quick frame. Keefe once again led the charge with three kills, but the team couldn't find an answer late in the match.

Notables

Duke falls to 4-6 this fall. Michigan State improves to 7-3.
Friday marks the second time this season Duke has lost three consecutive losses.
Keefe's career-high 27 kills is her most since August 31, 2023 against Loyola Maryland.
Setter Quinn saw her second game this fall with 40-or-more assists.
Kadel tallied two aces, bringing her season total to seven.
As a team, Duke hit .246 percent to Michigan State's .268.
The Spartans were led by Akasha Anderson with 13 kills while libero Nalani Iosia added 25 digs.

Quote

"Every single time we step onto the court we are learning about our team and tonight was no different. Our team fought hard to get back into the match. We didn't execute early in the fifth set which made things difficult for us to come out with the win." - head coach Jolene Nagel

Next Match

Duke takes on Michigan in its final non-conference contest Saturday at 6:30 p.m.

For more information on Duke volleyball, follow the Blue Devils on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram by searching for "DukeVB".

Duke Centennial
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