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1 PM
Volleyball
at Clemson
Friday, August 27
Fort Collins, Colo.
9:00 p.m.
Duke University
1
at
3
Colorado State
Volleyball Falls 3-1 to No. 17 Colorado State in Opener
8/27/2010 10:40:00 PM | Volleyball
FORT COLLINS, Colo. - Led by 14 kills apiece from Megan Plourde and Jacque Davisson, 17th-ranked Colorado State took down Duke 3-1 (25-16, 26-24, 24-26, 25-21) in the season opener Friday evening in Moby Arena as part of the Coors Rocky Mountain Challenge.
Plourde finished with .333 hitting percentage and five blocks while Davisson went 14-for-32 attacking with 10 digs. Colorado State (1-0) also got 46 assists from setter Evan Sanders, who led the Rams to a .246 hitting percentage for the match.
"We didn't play as aggressively as I thought we needed to early in the match, but I thought we adjusted as it went on and did some really good things," Duke head coach Jolene Nagel said. "One thing [Colorado State] did a good job of was that they didn't make a lot of mistakes. They didn't give any points away."
Duke (0-1) matched Colorado State with 11 blocks, but had trouble getting the ball past Rams libero Audrey Hemmings who picked up 14 digs. While the veteran Blue Devil trio of Becci Burling, Claire Smalzer and Amanda Robertson combined for 34 of Duke's 51 kills and a .319 hitting percentage, the Rams held the rest of Duke's lineup to a .111 clip. Smalzer, who spent the previous two seasons as Duke's libero, made her debut at outside hitter against Colorado State and responded with a team-leading 13 kills, .524 hitting percentage and 13 digs for her first career double-double.
After Plourde totaled six kills to lead Colorado State to a 25-16 opening-set win, the Rams pulled out a crucial game two 26-24 to jump ahead to a two-set advantage. The Blue Devils quickly turned the tables and hit .385 in game three to win 26-24 after battling through three lead changes, but saw that momentum come to a halt in game four when Colorado State held them to a .158 clip on the way to a match-clinching 25-21 win.
"Colorado State had a great atmosphere in this arena tonight," Nagel said of the Mountain West Conference-record attendnace of 6,333 in Moby Arena. "I thought we did a good job, though, of handling the tough environment. I think we'll learn a lot from this match tonight."
Duke freshman Ali McCurdy made her debut as the libero for the Blue Devils and picked up nine digs and 13 errorless service receptions. Duke setter Kellie Catanach also contributed 42 assists to move into sixth place on Duke's career assists list.
Duke will now head south to take on Colorado in Boulder, Colo., in a continuation of the Coors Rocky Mountain Challenge. The Blue Devils and Buffaloes will square off at 6:30 p.m. (MST) in the Coors Event Center.
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