Duke Completes Rivalry Sweep with 3-2 Win over NC State

Friday, October 27

Durham, N.C.

6:30 p.m.

Duke University

15-8,6-6ACC

NC State

16-6,6-5ACC

NC State

Duke

Duke Completes Rivalry Sweep with 3-2 Win over NC State

10/27/2023 10:48:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

DURHAM - The Duke volleyball team completed the rivalry sweep as it outlasted NC State, 3-2 (25-18, 20-25, 25-22, 21-25, 15-13), Friday evening in ACC volleyball action at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

With the victory, the Blue Devils improve to 15-8 overall and 6-6 in conference play. Head coach Jolene Nagel's squad has won four of its last five contests.

Duke featured three with double-double performances, led by Gracie Johnson's 16-kill and 14-dig showing. Jess Robinson tallied 14 kills and just three errors to hit .344 percent for the match and added a team-leading seven blocks while Lizzie Fleming hit .412 percent with six blocks.

Setter Emma Worthington dished 39 assists while four different Blue Devils tallied 10 or more digs — Worthington (17), Johnson (14), Madison Bryant (13) and Kerry Keefe (11). In addition to Keefe's 12 kills, she tallied a career-high four aces while Johnson added three of her own.

The almost three-hour match featured a whopping 46 ties as Duke hit .238 percent.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Duke went on a 7-1 run to end the first set and took an early 1-0 lead in the match. The Blue Devils came out swinging to hit .243 percent and some early blocking limited the Wolfpack to a .049 clip, their lowest of the match.
The Wolfpack responded with a .244 hitting percentage of their own in the second set to even the match, 1-1. NC State's Amanda Rice led the offense with six kills and no errors while Ava Brizard tallied three aces.
Both offenses were clicking in the third set, especially Duke's with a .325 clip. Johnson's swing came alive particularly in this frame with seven kills on 14 swings. Like it had done all match, Duke's block came up clutch with 12 block assists, limiting NC State's offensive chances.
The Wolfpack tallied 19 kills to Duke's nine as they evened the match, 2-2, in the fourth set. Rice continued to be State's offensive machine with eight kills.
With the match on the line, it was a race to 15 points and Duke took advantage of every opportunity. Nagel's squad hit a match-high .412 percent with nine kills. Keefe tallied two of her four aces back-to-back, giving Duke the 14-12 advantage. Rice found her 27th kill of the match to make it 14-13, but Johnson set up a nice ball on the outside for Rachel Richardson to knock down, giving Duke its 15th win this season.

NOTABLES

This was head coach Jolene Nagel's 698th career victory and the 495th at the helm of the Blue Devils. She looks to become just the eighth active Division I head coach with 700 wins.
The all-time series is 71-34 in favor of Duke.
Duke has 34-consecutive home wins over NC State.
With her three aces this evening, Johnson owns 156 for her career to rank fifth in program history. She has tallied at least one ace in 77-career contests.
Johnson is just two digs away from 1,000 for her career. She will be the 13th player in program history with 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs.
Keefe has tallied at least 10 kills in all but three matches this fall.
Tonight was Johnson's 25th-career double-double performance.
This was Duke's fifth five-set match this season -- it is 3-2 in those contests.
NC State was led by Rice with 27 kills as she hit .440 percent for the match.

QUOTE

"Our team hung in there tonight against a good NC State team. We kept it close when we weren't playing the absolute best, but I think it gave us the opportunity to finish and win. I'm excited for our team and really proud of them for mentally being so strong and having the courage to make some big plays." - head coach Jolene Nagel