09/20/2008 - Duke Sports Information

CHARLESTON, S.C. – After defeating College of Charleston 3-0 on Friday night and Delaware 3-1 on Saturday morning, the Duke volleyball team completed its sweep of the Charleston Invitational with a 3-0 (25-14, 25-23, 25-11) victory against Gardner-Webb Saturday evening at John Kresse Arena.

Included in Duke’s two-win day were the 400th career victory for head coach Jolene Nagel and the team’s fifth 3-0 sweep of the season which came against Gardner-Webb (2-11). The Blue Devils (9-3, 0-0 ACC) put forth another strong defensive effort and held the Running Bulldogs to a .081 hitting percentage and outpaced them with a .344 mark of their own.

Duke senior middle blocker Jourdan Norman led the way for the Blue Devils with a .700 hitting percentage built by seven kills on 10 errorless attacks. Norman also chipped in a team-leading three blocks and took over sole possession of second place on Duke’s all-time blocks list with 531 in her four-year career. Norman passed the previous mark of 529 set by Jen Rohrig from 1990-93 and needs just 23 more stops to become Duke’s all-time leader in the category.

Junior Rachael Moss and freshman Sophia Dunworth matched Norman with seven kills apiece with Dunworth turning in a .429 clip on 14 attacks. Freshman outside hitter Kayla Kirk was even more effective in her one game played, knocking down five of her seven attacks for a career-high .571 clip.

Dunworth also reached double-digit digs with 10 while Moss and libero Claire Smalzer each turned in nine apiece. Senior Aana Wherry added seven to give her 16 over her past two matches.

Gardner-Webb got off to a fast start and jumped out to a 7-3 lead in the first set before the Blue Devils got on track and tied the score at 8-8. That would be the last shot the Bulldogs had at taking the first set, as Duke went on to outscore Gardner-Webb 17-6 over the remainder of the set. Led by a five-kill effort from Dunworth, Duke had runs of 5-0, 6-0 and 4-0 in the opening set.

 The Blue Devils kept up the defensive trend in the second set and held Gardner-Webb to a .195 clip after allowing just 13 of the Bulldogs’ 41 attacks to hit the floor. Moss and Dunworth took charge defensively and each contributed four digs, while senior Aana Wherry and sophomore Alex Sall each chipped in with three.

The Blue Devils capped the match in the same fashion, holding the Bulldogs to a .000 clip while turning in a .364 mark of their own. Kirk came through several times with five kills on seven attacks, one service ace, two digs and a block. Norman, meanwhile, connected on five of her final six attacks in the set while Catanach was successful in 11 of her 18 sets.

Duke will open its ACC schedule next weekend with a pair of home matches against Miami and Florida State. Duke will open with a 7 p.m. affair against the undefeated Hurricanes on Thursday, Sept. 25, and continue with another 7 p.m. meeting against Florida State on Friday.

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