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1 PM
Volleyball
vs Notre Dame
Sunday, September 28
Durham, N.C.
1:00 PM
Duke University
3
vs
0
Miami
Duke Sweeps Miami, Wins Fifth Straight Match
9/28/2014 3:30:00 PM | Volleyball
DURHAM, N.C. –Duke turned in one of its most efficient offensive performances of the season to sweep Miami 3-0 (25-21, 25-19, 25-14) Sunday afternoon in Cameron Indoor Stadium. The Blue Devils hit a season-high .427 in their fifth-straight win, totaling 54 kills to just 10 attack errors.
Setter Kelsey Williams tossed up 40 assists as five Duke players hit .300 or better for the match. Williams also added 12 digs for her second double-double in as many games.
“Everyone was on today, so they make my job easy,” said Williams. “Our defense and our block did a really good job and that was a big focus. We were getting a lot of digs and we knew what we wanted to run and we were able to do that. The hitters did an awesome job knowing their shots.”
Outside hitter Emily Sklar knocked down a match-high 16 kills, good for her fifth-straight match with 15-plus kills. Middle blocker Jordan Tucker amassed 12 kills on 19 attempts, posting a .579 hitting percentage in the process. Breanna Atkinson, Jeme Obeime and Alyse Whitaker rounded out a well-balanced Duke attack as the trio combined for 26 kills.
Duke's defense was equally as impressive and limited the Hurricanes to 34 kills on .192 hitting. Savanah Leaf was the only Miami player to reach double-digit kills, finishing the day with 10. Libero Sasha Karelov led all players with 13 digs. Karelov also chipped in with 11 assists for her second double-double of the season.
“[Defense] was a big focus coming in,” Williams added. “We knew they had some good hitters on their side of the net. We knew that was going to be an important factor in today's game, to really focus on the block, knowing where their hitters are and setting up our defense around it.”
With the win, Duke improved to 10-3 overall, 2-0 in the ACC and 8-0 at home. Miami fell to 8-5 on the year and 1-1 in conference action.
“I'm so happy with how we executed out there today,” said head coach Jolene Nagel. “I thought our block did a good job of setting up and waiting, so our defense could work around it. I couldn't be happier for this team.”
Three early Sklar kills helped Duke establish a 7-3 advantage out of the gate in set one. The Blue Devils maintained the four-point margin throughout the opening set and ultimately won the frame, 25-21, on a Tucker kill. Duke dropped 18 kills, including five from Sklar, in the first set and hit .500.
The Blue Devils' 8-4 lead in the second set evaporated following a 7-2 Miami run. Trailing 11-10, Duke answered with a 9-0 spurt which gave the Blue Devils a commanding 19-11 advantage. Duke received two kills each from Sklar and Whitaker during that span, and Miami was unable to recover. The Blue Devils collected 21 kills to just 11 for the Hurricanes in the 25-19, second-set decision.
Duke won 10 of the first 14 third-set points and eventually clinched the set, 25-14. The Blue Devils kept the pressure on following a Miami timeout and expanded their lead to 16-7. The Hurricanes would get no closer than seven points the rest of the way.
Duke hits the road for the first of four-consecutive road matches Friday, Oct. 3. The Blue Devils meet Virginia in Charlottesville, Va., Friday then fly to South Bend, Ind., to take on Notre Dame Sunday, Oct. 5.
#GoDuke
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