It took two-and-a-half hours and 11 match points, but Duke was finally able to hold off the Tigers Saturday.
The Blue Devils garnered their first two conference wins over the weekend, dispatching ACC rivals Georgia Tech and Clemson at Cameron Indoor Stadium. After taking down the Yellow Jackets Friday in straight sets, 25-10, 25-22, 28-26, Duke (8-4, 2-1 in the ACC) pushed their win streak to three games Saturday in a five-set thriller against the Tigers, 27-25, 19-25, 23-25, 25-17, 25-23.
“This team has a lot of character,” Duke head coach Jolene Nagel said. “They were big matches. We were at home, and it’s difficult to win on the road in the ACC, so we have to take advantage of the games when we’re in Cameron.”
Led by Sophia Dunworth, Christiana Gray and Kellie Catanach, the Blue Devils dominated their match against Georgia Tech (8-5, 1-2), finishing with a .299 hitting percentage, 49 kills and just 14 errors. Dunworth and Gray combined for 21 kills while Catanach racked up 43 assists. Amanda Robertson and Megan Hendrickson both had nine kills apiece, and defensive specialists Ali McCurdy and Nailah Waterfield helped hold the potent Yellow Jacket offense, centered around NCAA kills leader Monique Mead, to a .151 hitting percentage.
Clemson (10-4, 2-1) gave the Duke all it could handle in a match highlighted by aggressive kills from both sides and an electrifying fifth set. Catanach came up huge again for the Blue Devils, dishing out 63 assists, 15 of which came in the match’s final set. Duke had four different players with at least 14 kills.
Sophomore Ali McCurdy vexed the Tigers’ offense, racking up 31 digs to thwart Clemson’s powerful hitters. She leads the ACC in total digs, 253, and digs per per set, 5.38.
After scoring the first point of the match, the Blue Devils fell behind for most of the first set until they rallied to take a 24-23 lead. Robertson helped Duke take a 1-0 match lead with an assertive kill off a Kellie Catanach assist, just one of Catanach’s 17 in the set. The Blue Devils lost their momentum and dropped the second and third sets due to poor hitting, posting percentages of -.034 and .170, along with 19 errors.
Duke stormed back in the fourth set, though, behind dominating play around the net from the trio of Dunworth, Gray and Catanach.
The final set was back and forth the whole way. The Blue Devils took a 3-0 lead, only to drop the next four points. With the game in the balance at 13-13, momentum swung in the Tiger’s favor after a controversial line call brought on match point for Clemson. The Tigers squandered four chances to close out Duke before the score moved to 17-17. Six more match points were traded between the two teams until the Tigers sent a serve into the net to give the Blue Devils a 24-23 lead. Dunworth’s 16th kill of the match, off a set from Catanach, finished off Clemson.
“It was a difficult one for anyone to end up on the short end of because no one deserved to lose that one,” Nagel said. “Both teams worked so hard, so that’s a tough one to lose.”
Nagel also reinforced the importance of her team’s performance under pressure in both matches.
“You can’t set up these circumstances ever, which are so crucial to the development of a team, especially so early in the season,” Nagel said. “I feel like this helps us develop as a team to support each other and trust each other and to know that we have confidence in ourselves.”
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