Volleyball Set To Begin ACC Tourney

The Duke Blue Devil volleyball team enters the ACC Volleyball Tournament as the No. 5 seed with a 13-13 overall and 7-9 ACC record. Duke will travel to Orlando, Fla. to play No. 4 seed Virginia (17-10 overall/9-7 ACC) in a 2 p.m. match Friday. Duke enters the tournament on a hot streak, having won four of its last five matches including a 3-2 victory against then-No. 22 North Carolina.

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Should Duke defeat Virginia in the 2 p.m. Friday contest, the Blue Devils would advance to the 4:30 p.m. match against the winner of Thursday's 7:30 p.m. match pairing No. 1 seed/No. 13 nationally ranked Clemson (29-1/15-1 ACC) vs. Florida State (8-22/1-15 ACC).

DUKE VOLLEYBALL FALLS TO NO. 13 CLEMSON 3-0
Four-match Blue Devil win streak snapped by Tigers
No. 13 Clemson used 14 blocks and 48 kills to defeat the Duke volleyball team 15-5, 15-10, 15-3 Saturday evening in Jervey Gym in Clemson. The loss snapped Duke's four-match win streak and dropped the Blue Devils to 13-13 overall and 7-9 in the ACC. Clemson concludes its week at 29-1 overall and 15-1 in the ACC.

Clemson outblocked Duke 14-6 and outhit the Blue Devils .256 (48-16-125)-.107 (41-28-122). The Tigers also used 48 kills to Duke's 41.

Freshman Jill Sonne led the Blue Devils with nine kills, four digs and a .316 hitting percentage. Seniors Jami Ediger and Dominique Philipp each registered eight digs apiece.

Clemson was led by Alison Coday's 16 kills and .314 hitting percentage (16-5-35), Cindy Stern's 14 kills, .393 hitting percentage and eight total blocks (four solo) along with Jod Steffes' eight kills.

DUKE VOLLEYBALL CRUISES PAST GEORGIA TECH 3-1
Phillip's 20 kills leads Blue Devils to fourth victory in a row
Senior Dominique Phillip's match-high 20 kills helped the Duke volleyball team register a 15-8, 15-13, 8-15, 15-1 against Georgia Tech Friday evening in Atlanta. The victory improves Duke to 13-12 overall and 7-8 in the ACC while Georgia Tech drops to 16-12 overall and 6-9 in the ACC. The Blue Devil victory marks the fourth straight win, a string that has included wins against Florida State, North Carolina State, No. 22 North Carolina and now the Yellowjackets.

After dropping game one 15-8, the Georgia Tech took the first ten points of game two, before seeing the Blue Devils win 15 of the last 18 points en route to the game victory.

While Tech rallied to take the third game, Phillip led a punishing Blue Devil charge in game four, with eleven of her 20 kills coming in the fourth game. Phillip converted on 11 of 14 attack attempts in the game which Duke dominated 15-1. As a team, the Blue Devils hit for an amazing .688 percentage in that fourth game.

Georgia Tech's Teryl Townsend led the Yellowjackets with 17 kills and hit a team-high .293 hitting percentage.

EDIGER NAMED co-ACC VOLLEYBALL PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Duke's Jill Sonne selected co-ACC Volleyball Rookie of the Week
Two Duke volleyball players were honored by the ACC Monday following victories against North Carolina State and No. 22 North Carolina. Duke senior Jami Ediger was named ACC co-Player of the Week while freshman Jill Sonne was honored with co-Rookie of the Week honors.

Ediger, who shared player of the week honors with Maryland's Maren Stuart, led the Blue Devils on defense with 3.33 digs per game and 2.11 blocks per game. The LaHabra, Calif. native finished the week with 17 kills, 19 total blocks and 30 total digs. Sonne, a freshman from LaMesa, Calif., finished the week with 25 kills, 26 digs and 12 total blocks. She shared the honor with Clemson setter Jessi Betcher.

NAGEL HAS DUKE PROGRAM MOVING IN RIGHT DIRECTION
Duke volleyball coach Jolene Nagel has the Duke program inching back to the success the Blue Devils enjoyed in the early 1990's. Duke won four straight ACC championships in 1991, 1992, 1993 and 1994. Nagel excited to meet the challenge of building a program. "I'm thrilled at the opportunity to work at a school like Duke that balances academics and athletics is an environment that I've always aspired and worked to be in."

THREE FRESHMEN PROVE THEMSELVES IN FIRST DUKE YEAR
Duke's three freshman have certainly stood out as a class in their first year with the Blue Devils. Upon entering the ACC Tournament outside hitter Jill Sonne (LaMesa, Calif./West Hills) is averaging 2.86 kills per game and 3.17 kills per ACC game along with 2.58 digs per game and 1.19 blocks per game. In addiition, Sonne has twice been named the ACC Rookie of the Week on the season.

Freshman middle blocker Rachel VanderGriend (Granger, Ind./Clay H.S.) has played in 24 games (14 matches) and has registered 39 kills in 90 attempts for a .256 hitting percentage. She has also contributed 1.08 blocks per game. Josie Weyman (Darien, Conn./Darrien) also has contributed at outside hitter/defensive specialist with 10 kills in 51 attempts. She is also averaging 2.27 digs per game.

SENIORS TO PLAY IN FINAL ACC TOURNAMENT
This weekend's ACC Tournament marks the final tournament for four of Duke's seniors associated with the volleyball program. Seniors Jami Ediger, Chrissie Lukasiewicz, Dominique Philip along with student assistant Melissa Irvin played their final home match vs. North Carolina and were honored for their achievements.