Burling Leads Duke Past Campbell 3-0

Tuesday, August 31

Durham, N.C.

7:00 p.m.

Duke University

Campbell

Burling Leads Duke Past Campbell 3-0

8/31/2010 9:16:00 PM | Volleyball

By: Duke Sports Information

DURHAM, N.C. – Becci Burling totaled 15 kills without an attack error to lead Duke past Campbell 3-0 (25-9, 25-14, 25-23) on Tuesday evening in Cameron Indoor Stadium.

In Duke's home opener, Burling went 15-for-22 for a .682 hitting percentage and dropped in a team-high four service aces and a pair of blocks. A 6-1 senior middle blocker, Burling has now has double-digit kills in each of her first three matches this season and leads Duke 45 kills, a .338 hitting percentage and five aces.

“It was exciting to have our first match in Cameron, especially with the great support we got from our students and student-athletes,” said head coach Jolene Nagel, now in her 12th season at Duke. “I'm very pleased with our team team came out and executed and minimzed our errors. That was one of our goals tonight, to minimize errors and we certainly accomplished that.”

Blue Devil setter Kellie Catanach dished out 21 assists in the first two games before senior Alex Sall took over in the final frame and finished with 14 assists. Catanach and Sall sent plenty of sets to junior Sophia Dunworth, who posted 10 kills on a .391 hitting percentage, and Christiana Gray who finished with six kills and a .385 clip.

While Catanach, Sall and the Duke offense were in synch, it was Duke's defense that controlled the game. Duke (2-1) held Campbell to a .030 hitting percentage and allowed just 21 kills in the three-game set. Gray led the way with six blocks – including one solo stop – while fellow middle blocker Amanda Robertson totaled three blocks and nine digs. Freshman Ali McCurdy helped out as well, collecting 12 digs and 15 errorless service receptions. McCurdy, who has started as the libero in each of Duke's three matches this season, has yet to commit a receiving error.

Duke also posted 10 service aces – including four from Burling and two each from Dunworth and senior Claire Smalzer – while surrendering just two.

The Blue Devil defense stifled the Fighting Camels in the opening set, holding them to a -.111 hitting percentage on the way to a 25-9 win. Campbell managed just three kills while Duke totaled 12 with Dunworth finishing 4-for-8 and Burling finishing 3-for-6, both with no errors. Duke scored seven straight points early to claim a 13-4 lead and ended the game on a 7-3 run to keep the Camels in single digits.

The second set featured a .394 Duke hitting percentage, bolstered by Catanach who saw 11 of her 22 sets go down for kills. Burling and Dunworth again gave Campbell fits, combining for 11 of Duke's 14 kills. Campbell kept the game tight early, battling to an 11-10 deficit, but could not hold down Duke for long as the Blue Devils opened a 14-4 rally to end the match. Burling had a three kills during that final run and ended the set with back-to-back service aces.

Burling stayed hot for the remainder of the match, posting six more kills in a 25-23 third-set win. She managed to play errorless volleyball as well, hitting .857 on seven attacks, to keep her errorless streak alive for the match. Campbell gave Duke a run with its blocking, totaling 6.5 blocks to hold Duke to a .111 clip, but the Fighting Camels killed their own rally by ending the game with a service error.

“I thought that as we made adjustments in our lineup, everyone did a good job of playing well regardless of who was out there,” Nagel said. “That says a lot about how well this team plays together, that not much changes when we sub everyone in and out.”

Duke used every player on the roster in the sweep, including sophomore Megan Hendrickson who had five kills and three digs.

Up next for the Blue Devils will be three matches at Middle Tennessee State's Blue Raider Bash on Sept. 3-4 in Murfreesboro, Tenn. The Blue Devils will open the tournament against host Middle Tennessee State on Friday before facing Auburn and Georgia Southern on Saturday.

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