No. 25 Duke Falls In Heartbreaker To No. 17 San Diego In NCAA Second Round

Saturday, December 2

Knoxville, Tenn.

5 p.m.

Duke University

San Diego

No. 25 Duke Falls In Heartbreaker To No. 17 San Diego In NCAA Second Round

12/2/2006 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball

By: Duke Sports Information

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. ? The 17th-ranked San Diego Toreros outlasted No. 25 Duke in a five-game classic (30-27, 25-30, 17-30, 30-27, 12-15) to advance to next weekend's Sweet 16 in Gainesville, Fla. The Blue Devils end their season at 29-4 while the Toreros improve to 26-5.

After Duke opened game one with a 2-0 lead, neither team held more than a one point lead as the Blue Devils and Toreros traded the next 22 points until Duke took a two-point advantage at 14-12. The Blue Devils would extend their lead to four points at 16-12 but a 6-2 San Diego run tied the score at 18 all. Duke then used a 4-1 run to go ahead 22-19, forcing a Toreros timeout. San Diego was forced to use their second timeout of the game at 28-25 but it was not enough to slow the Blue Devils down as Duke took the opening game, 30-27.

Junior Ali Hausfeld distributed the ball effectively in game one, recording 22 assists. Junior Carrie DeMange and sophomore Sue Carls led Duke with six kills apiece while senior Tealle Hunkus had five kills and sophomore Jourdan Norman added four kills. DeMange, junior Jenny Shull and freshman Rachael Moss led the defensive effort with four digs each. Both teams hit over .400 in the opening game as the Blue Devils recorded a .469 hitting percentage and the Toreros hit .426.

Game two saw Duke and San Diego trade the first 20 points before a 4-0 Torero run gave San Diego a 14-10 advantage. A 5-1 Blue Devil run followed and Duke tied the score at 15 all. The two teams would then trade the next 16 points before a 7-2 San Diego run gave the Toreros a 30-25 game two victory, tying the match at one game apiece.

Hunkus had seven kills on 11 swings for a .636 hitting percentage in game two while DeMange and Norman had three kills each. Hausfeld added 11 assists and four digs, Moss had three digs and DeMange had a pair of blocks.

After the two teams traded the first 16 points of game three, San Diego went on a 7-2 run to take a 15-10 lead. The Toreros would then go on a 10-5 run to open up a 10-point advantage at 25-15 on their way to a 30-17 game three victory.

DeMange had four kills on four swings in the third game while Hunkus and Moss had two kills apiece. Hausfeld added eight assists, Moss had five digs and Hunkus posted four digs.

The Blue Devils held four-point leads on four occasions early in the fourth game before the Toreros came back to tie the score at 15 all. The two teams would trade the next 24 points before a 3-0 Duke run gave the Blue Devils a 30-27 game four win.

Moss had seven kills on 13 swings for a .462 hitting percentage in game four while DeMange and Norman had four kills apiece. Hausfeld added 17 assists and four digs, Hunkus had four digs and Shull, Moss and senior Polly Bendush added three digs each.

San Diego would open the fifth game with an 8-3 advantage. Duke would then use an 8-5 run to cut the score to two points at 13-11. The Toreros and Blue Devils traded points to make it a 14-12 game before San Diego held on for a 15-12 game five victory.

DeMange hit .400 with 20 kills in the match and added eight digs and four blocks. Hunkus finished her career with 18 kills while hitting .277 and added 11 digs. Moss had 16 kills and 16 digs while Hausfeld recorded 67 assists and 10 digs while leading the Blue Devils to a .264 hitting percentage on the evening. Norman had 12 kills and Carls nine to round out the Blue Devils offense. Bendush finished her career with a season-high seven digs while Shull added 10 digs of her own.

The Blue Devils will return six starters in an attempt to defend their ACC Championship next season, including the ACC Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year in Hausfeld and Moss, respectively.