The volleyball team continued its winning ways Tuesday beating East Carolina 3-0 (30-20, 30-19, 30-18) in Greenville. With the win the Blue Devils move to 8-0 on the season, while the loss dropped ECU to 2-6.
The match was particularly emotional for both teams since last season's contest, scheduled for Cameron Indoor Stadium, was canceled because of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on New York City and Washington D.C.
"I've thought about it a lot, but I haven't talked to the girls about it yet," head coach Jolene Nagel said. "It was interesting tonight. I think more people were thinking about what they should be thinking about during the national anthem. Things hit a bit closer to home."
In the match, Duke received what Nagel called a great team effort. The Blue Devils were led by Tassy Rufai, who collected a team-high 10 kills while racking up a .381 hitting percentage. Junior Krista Dill turned in an impressive performance with nine kills in 10 attempts for a .900 hitting average.
Seniors Jill Sonne and Rachel Vander Griend also led Duke, recording nine kills. Sonne had four aces, five block assists and 44 assists--all team highs.
"We're really excited to be off to such a strong start," Nagel said. "We have six new players so we've been working on team cohesiveness, but we did a great job tonight and I'm pleased with our progress."
The Pirates, who were without three of their players due to illness, were led by Robyn Drewes who tallied eight kills and a .333 hitting percentage. Jessica Vick chalked up 16 assists for East Carolina.
As a team ECU finished the match with 26 strikes and a .135 attack average.
"Duke is a really good team that has been receiving votes in the top 25," East Carolina head coach Colleen Munson said. "We played well against them and were really aggressive, especially in the first game."
The Blue Devils now come home to host American, No. 18 Santa Barbara and No. 12 Wisconsin this Friday and Saturday in the Duke Classic in Cameron.
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