DeMange Leads Duke To Sweep Of Boston College

Sunday, November 12

Chestnut Hill, Mass.

12 p.m.

Duke University

Boston College

DeMange Leads Duke To Sweep Of Boston College

11/12/2006 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball

By: Duke Sports Information

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. ? Junior Carrie DeMange had a match-high 15 kills and three service aces as the Duke volleyball team defeated Boston College, 3-0 (30-26, 30-19, 30-11), Sunday at Power Gym. With the victory, Duke won its sixth-straight match and improves to 24-3 overall and 17-1 in the ACC while Boston College falls to 10-17 and 8-10, respectively.

Duke's 24th win of the season ties the best under coach Jolene Nagel, as her teams in 2002 and '05 also won 24 matches. Duke's 17 ACC victories matches the team's output from a season ago as the most in school history.

“I'm excited that we could come off the road with two wins in the ACC as we head down the stretch,” Nagel said. “We had a great team effort over the weekend.”

Duke got off to a slow start in the first game as the Eagles scored the first four points. Duke crawled back into the game and tied it at 10 apiece and held a 16-14 lead before Boston College scored eight of the next 12 points to lead 22-18 and force at Duke timeout. Junior Jenny Shull then recorded one of her two service aces while serving four straight points to tie the game at 22 all and junior Ali Hausfeld served the final two points of the game for the 30-26 win. DeMange and senior Tealle Hunkus each recorded five kills in the first game.

Duke's middle duo of DeMange and sophomore Jourdan Norman combined for seven kills on eight swings in game two as Duke built an early lead of 5-2 and back-to-back DeMange aces then gave Duke a 10-4 advantage. After senior Polly Bendush served seven straight including an ace, Duke held a 22-12 lead. Boston College held a late game rally, scoring six of the next eight points before DeMange served five straight and forced an Eagle timeout before a Norman kill ended the game, 30-19.

Duke owned the third game building a 10-1 advantage and forcing Boston College into an early timeout. DeMange had three kills in the first 10 points for Duke and then served three straight points before Shull pushed Duke's lead to 19-4 and the Eagles used their second timeout. Sophomore Aana Wherry then recorded three consecutive service aces to push Duke's lead to 28-9 and Duke held even for the 30-11 victory.

In holding Boston College to 11 points in game three, Duke set a new opponent season low and it marked the best defensive game for Duke since Sept. 18, 2004, when the Blue Devils held Georgia State to 11 points in game one. Duke's 10 service aces marks the second straight match reaching double-figures and eighth time this season.

Hausfeld finished with 33 assists and added five digs and four blocks while freshman Rachael Moss recorded nine kills and eight digs. Norman had six blocks and five kills while hitting .571 while Shull had 12 digs and three aces. Wherry's three consecutive aces gave her a career high as she had just one on the season headed into the match with the Eagles. DeMange's double-figure kill performance is her eighth straight and 22nd of the season.

“Our team did a really nice job of serving today,” Nagel added. ” As the match went on, our communication and control of the ball improved as well as our offensive production.”

The win sets up Duke's next match at Virginia as a big one. Virginia is currently 14-4 in the ACC and has won an ACC-best eight straight matches. Should Duke win, the Blue Devils will clinch their first ACC Championship since 1994 and first for Nagel. Nagel and the Blue Devils won a regular season ACC Title in 2001 but did not claim the tournament championship, which is what determined the league champion until last season when the tournament became defunct.

Duke and Virginia will square off on Thursday, Nov. 16 at 7 p.m. in Charlottesville, Va.

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