After a couple convincing wins at the Loyola Marymount Invitational and an easy victory over High Point, the volleyball team took their early-season momentum to Pittsburgh Classic last weekend.
Three days, three games and three wins later, the Blue Devils remain undefeated after topping Indiana State, Bowling Green and Pittsburgh to win the tournament.
"I'm pleased that we came in here and won three matches this weekend," head coach Jolene Nagel said. "We're really excited to get to know each other better on the court and continue to improve. We had a great team effort this weekend."
The Blue Devils (7-0) ended the weekend by beating Indiana State, 3-0 (30-18, 30-21, 30-27) and Bowling Green 3-1 (30-25, 30-25, 27-30, 30-28). Junior Krista Dill, who recorded 14 kills against Bowling Green and nine versus the Sycamores, was named tournament most valuable player.
The Blue Devils also leaned on the services of senior Jill Sonne, junior Tassy Rufai and freshman Sarah Salem all of whom chalked up eight kills against Bowling Green.
In the first game, Duke took out the host Panthers, 3-0 (30-25, 30-28, 30-24) behind the sharp play of Salem, who recorded 11 kills with a .350 hitting percentage. Dill also added 10 kills of her own to go with six blocks and at .400 hitting percentage.
"We didn't play our best match tonight, but we hung tough and played well enough to win in three games." Nagel said, after her team beat Pittsburgh. " I'm pleased with that."
The Blue Devils next travel to play East Carolina Tuesday before returning home to host American, Santa Barbara and Wisconsin in the Duke Classic next weekend.
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