Duke Upsets No. 22 North Carolina on Senior Day

Saturday, November 28

Durham, N.C.

1:00 PM

Duke University

North Carolina

Blue Devils Receive 2015-16 AVCA Team Academic Award

Duke Upsets No. 22 North Carolina on Senior Day

11/28/2015 5:12:00 PM | Volleyball

By: Duke Sports Information

DURHAM, N.C. – Led by the Blue Devils' five seniors, Duke downed No. 22 North Carolina 3-1 (20-25, 25-15, 25-19, 25-16) in the teams' regular season finale Sunday afternoon in Cameron Indoor Stadium.

North Carolina (20-9, 17-3 ACC) entered the match in need of a victory to claim a share of the 2015 ACC Championship, but Duke (17-13, 12-8 ACC) made sure the Tar Heels would settle for second place in the league standings. The Blue Devils' victory also snapped UNC's 12-match win streak.

Two Duke seniors – outside hitter Emily Sklar and setter Maggie Deichmeister – notched double-doubles in their final home match. Sklar led all players with 17 kills while also contributing 17 digs. Deichmeister dished out 49 assists and picked up 14 digs.

“There were just so many emotions about today,” said Deichmeister. “We were happy, sad, excited. We're really lucky to play such a great team our last match on our home court. You really couldn't ask for anything better.”

Senior outside hitter Breanna Atkinson knocked down a season-high 13 kills, while classmate Christina Vucich posted a season-high seven kills on 19 errorless swings. Fellow senior Laura Williams also added a season high, chipping in 13 digs.

“It was a really special day,” said head coach Jolene Nagel. “I think it was a really great performance by them.”

North Carolina entered the week ranked third in the nation in blocks per set, but Duke was able to mitigate the UNC threat at the net. The Blue Devils kept the Tar Heels without a block until the third set and ended up out-blocking their opponent, 7.0-5.5.

“Our game plan was to look at the other side of the net, see where their weaknesses were and our strengths were, match them up, and just execute right over the top of their block,” Deichmeister added.

Duke's stellar defense did not stop at the net as the Blue Devils were able to pick up 90 digs to UNC's 79. Duke limited North Carolina to a .106 hitting percentage for the match and did not all the Tar Heels to hit over .150 in any of the final three frames.

“I feel like everyone went all out on defense,” said Sklar. “It was super scrappy today. There were a lot of scramble plays with people diving all over the floor. That was really awesome.”

Junior libero Sasha Karelov anchored the defense with a team-high 22 digs. Sophomore defensive specialist Nicole Elattrache was the fifth Blue Devil to top 10 digs, adding 12.

Duke led early in the opening set before a late UNC surge secured a 25-20 Tar Heel victory. North Carolina scored six of the set's final seven points, including a pair of Leigh Andrew kills, to stake the early 1-0 advantage.

“We all knew after that first set that we were capable of much more,” Nagel said. “We kind of gave that set away with miscues on our block and miscues on defense. We had to straighten that out if we wanted a chance. We adjusted a little bit on our block with our time and made sure defensively everyone was on the same page. I don't think I saw an out of position after that.”

The final three sets belonged to the Blue Devils, beginning with a resounding 25-15 second-set win. Duke hammered 18 kills while committing a lone attack error, paced by Jordan Tucker's five kills. The Blue Devils won eight of the stanza's first 11 points and did not let the lead slip under four points the rest of the way.

Duke again jumped out to an early lead in the fourth, establishing a 12-5 margin following back-to-back Atkinson tallies. The Blue Devils' lead ballooned to 10 points before a late North Carolina rally trimmed the margin. Duke staved off the comeback and notched the 25-19 decision on a Sklar kill.

The momentum remained in the Blue Devils' favor in the fourth. Duke won five of the first six points then rattled off eight straight points with Deichmeister at the service line to establish a comfortable, 15-6 lead. A Leah Meyer kill ultimately ended the set and the match.

Meyer and fellow middle blocker Tucker combined for 20 kills and seven blocks. Meyer totaled seven kills and four blocks while Tucker added 13 kills and three blocks.

North Carolina middle blocker Paige Neuenfeldt paced the Tar Heels with 12 kills. She was the only UNC player to reach double-digit kills.

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