Duke Takes Down Virginia in Five Sets

Friday, October 9

Charlottesville, Va.

7 p.m.

Duke University

11-4,3-2ACC

Virginia

5-9,1-4ACC

Team	1	2	3	4	5	Final F
Duke	25	22	20	25	15	3
Virginia	20	25	25	23	13	2

Duke Takes Down Virginia in Five Sets

10/9/2026 10:19:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Duke volleyball won a five-set thriller Friday night, defeating Virginia 3-2 (25-20, 22-25, 20-25, 25-23, 15-13) inside Memorial Gymnasium.

Duke (11-4, 3-2 ACC) got off to a strong start but struggled in the middle sets of the match before turning it on late to pick up its second five-set road conference win of the season. The Blue Devils didn't have their best offensive game but did just enough to snap its two-match losing streak to Virigina (5-9, 1-4 ACC).

Nataly Moravec and Ashby Zubchevich had monstrous performances for Duke, as the duo combined for 41 of the Blue Devils' 62 kills. Zubchevich tied her career high with 21 kills, while Moravec tallied 20. Also having a big performance off the bench was Olivia Wayne, who had seven kills to go along with three blocks. Wayne had not appeared in a match since Sept. 19 against LIU.

Nikki Quinn had a huge day for the Blue Devils, dishing out a match-high 47 assists. Her 43rd of the night, which came on a Zoë Gillen-Malveaux kill in the fifth set, marked the 1,000th of her career. Quinn also added three blocks. The Blue Devils finished the night hitting .241.

Defensively, Duke held Virginia to .266 hitting, while blocking 10 attacks from the Cavaliers. Gillen-Malveaux, Quinn, Wayne and Breonna Goss all had three blocks. Quinn also led Duke with 10 digs, marking her second double-double of the season.

How it Happened
Set 1 – Duke 25, Virginia 20

Virginia got off to a fast start as it jumped ahead 3-1 before Duke won six of the next seven points to take a 7-4 lead. Leading 13-12, the Blue Devils went on a 5-0 run to take a commanding 18-12 advantage.
The Blue Devils' lead was never smaller than four, and a kill by Gillen-Malveaux put Duke ahead 1-0 in the match. The Duke offense, led by Moravec with seven kills and no errors, hit .348 in the frame.
A key to the opening-set victory was three service aces from Duke, while Virginia had none.

Set 2 – Virginia 25, Duke 22

It was a rough start to the set for the Blue Devils, as they found themselves in an 8-0 hole quickly. Duke was able to pick away at the deficit and got within five – 15-10 – at the media timeout.
Trailing 17-14, Duke went on a 4-1 run to even things for the first time in the frame at 18-18. Virginia, however, would get back into a rhythm after jumping ahead 20-19 and did not trail the rest of the set.
The Blue Devils struggled offensively, hitting just .129. On the other side, Virginia hit .286. Moravec led Duke with three kills.

Set 3 – Virginia 25, Duke 20

It was a back-and-forth battle early in the set, with Virginia holding a slight 13-11 lead nearing the halfway point of the frame. The Cavaliers added on to that late, going on a 5-0 run to go ahead 18-11.
The Blue Devils tried to battle their way back into the set late, but could never cut the deficit to smaller than three.
Duke hit .192 in the frame, while Virginia hit .379.

Set 4 – Duke 25, Virginia 23

Keeping the theme of the previous set, it was a tight battle going into the media timeout, as Virginia held a slim 15-14 lead. Coming out of the timeout, the Cavaliers won four of the next five points, jumping ahead 19-15.
The Blue Devils answered right back, as Duke went on a 4-1 run to trim its deficit to 20-19. Trailing 22-20, Zubchevich recorded back-to-back kills and Quinn added an ace to put Duke ahead 23-22.
Thanks to a kill by Moravec, Duke forced a deciding fifth set. In the fourth frame, Duke hit .273, which was an improvement from the previous two sets. Zubchevich had seven kills to lead the Blue Devils.

Set 5 – Duke 15, Virginia 13

Duke got out to a 2-0 lead before Virginia answered with the next two points. Duke then went on a 3-0 to make it 5-2 and forced a Virginia timeout after a block by Gillen-Malveaux and Wayne.
Virginia leveled things up at 7-7 before an attack error returned the lead back in Duke's favor, a lead that it would not relinquish the rest of the set.
The Blue Devils clinched the match victory on a block by Goss and Wayne. Zubchevich had another big set, recording four kills. The Duke defense held Virginia to .043 hitting in the final frame.

By the Numbers

Duke won the kill battle 62-59. Reese Wuebker had a team-high 18 kills for the Cavaliers.
In the passing game, Duke dished out 58 assists compared to Virginia's 52.
Duke won the ace battle 8-2. The two teams combined for 31 service errors, 21 from Duke and 12 from Virginia.
The Blue Devils won the blocking battle, 10-9.
With the win, Duke snapped its two-match losing streak to Virginia. The win also marked Duke's third ACC win of the season, surpassing last year's total of two.
Duke now moves to 60-15 all-time against Virginia.
The Blue Devils' 11 wins are the most in a season since 2023, when Duke went 19-10.

Career Highs
Zoë Gillen-Malveaux

Tied her career high in solo blocks with three.

Nataly Moravec

Set a career high in attacks with 62.

Nikki Quinn

Set a career high in attacks with 11.
Tied her career high in solo blocks with two.

Grace Thrower

Tied her career high in kills with one.

Ashby Zubchevich

Tied her career in kills with 21.

Up Next
Duke will look to finish off the weekend sweep on Sunday, as it travels to Blacksburg to take on Viriginia Tech. First serve is set for 1 p.m., on ACC Network Extra.

#GoDuke