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6:30 PM
Volleyball
vs Louisville
Friday, October 21
Durham, N.C.
7:00 PM
Duke University
3
vs
0
N.C. State
Duke Tops NC State 3-0 for Sixth Straight Win
10/21/2011 8:54:00 PM | Volleyball
DURHAM, N.C. - Ali McCurdy amassed 29 digs over just three sets to lead Duke to a 3-0 (25-20, 25-19, 25-21) win over NC State in a dominant defensive effort on Friday evening in Cameron Indoor Stadium. The win is the sixth straight for the Blue Devils (14-6, 8-3 ACC), who trail Florida State by three matches for first place in the ACC.
McCurdy successfully guarded Duke's side of the court and averaged 9.67 digs per set in the win as the Blue Devils held the Wolfpack to a .089 hitting percentage. The All-ACC libero leads the ACC in digs and digs per set and ranked 12th nationally in the category entering the week. With the performance, she improved her season average to 5.71 digs per set which would vault her into the NCAA's top 10 this season.
Senior Amanda Robertson and freshman Jeme Obeime provided the bulk of Duke's offense with 12 and 10 kills, respectively. Robertson notched her sixth double-double of the year with 14 digs while Obeime hit .375 with just one error on 24 attacks. Senior Sophia Dunworth added nine kills and eight digs to finish just shy of what would have been her fourth double-double of the last three weeks.
Duke setter Kellie Catanach continued her quest to 5,000 assists with 34 more against the Wolfpack. With 4,925 in her career, she needs just 75 more to become only the third player in Duke history to reach that mark.
The Wolfpack tried a balanced offensive attack that saw five players take at least 20 attacks. Margaret Salata was the most successful of the group with nine kills, but NC State had only 32 kills - compared to 20 attack errors - for the match.
McCurdy picked up 11 digs in the first set to key a strong defensive effort that helped Duke edge NC State 25-20 in the opener. The Wolfpack hit just .098 against the Blue Devils and gave up a late 19-18 lead after committing four attack errors.
Duke's offense took over in the second set as the Blue Devils - led by nine kills from Obeime - hit .317 with 18 kills to take a 2-0 lead. Obeime finished 6-for-9 without an attack error and was one of four Blue Devils with multiple kills. McCurdy picked up 12 more digs, giving her 23 in the first two sets.
Catanach set heavily to Robertson in game three and the senior right side hitter responded with six kills on a .455 hitting percentage to key a 25-21 third-set victory. NC State gave Duke a fight, tying the score at 19-19, but could not hold off Duke for long as the Blue Devils ended the match with a 6-2 run that included kills from Dunworth and Robertson and a match-clinching block from Robertson and Christiana Gray.
Duke will hit the road next weekend for a difficult road trip to Clemson and Georgia Tech on Oct. 28-30. The Blue Devils defeated both opponents at home earlier in the year, but needed a 25-23 fifth-set win over Clemson to secure the victory.
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