Seniors Lead No. 25 Duke In Regular Season Finale

Friday, November 24

Durham, N.C.

12 p.m.

Duke University

Miami

Seniors Lead No. 25 Duke In Regular Season Finale

11/24/2006 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball

By: Duke Sports Information

DURHAM, N.C. ? No. 25 Duke celebrated the careers of three seniors and officially wrapped up its ACC Championship regular season Friday at Cameron Indoor Stadium with a 3-0 (30-23, 30-23, 30-15) win over Miami. Duke's seniors led the way as the Blue Devils ended the regular season with a 28-3 overall record and a 21-1 mark in the ACC while Miami finishes its season at 12-19 and 9-13, respectively.

Polly Bendush, Tealle Hunkus and Pixie Levanas all went out on a strong note for the Blue Devils. Levanas finished with 10 kills and three blocks while Hunkus had 10 kills and 12 digs. Bendush finished with seven digs and two service aces in the win.

Duke finished off its second-consecutive undefeated season at Cameron and has won 31 straight dating back to the 2004 season. Duke's 28 regular season wins is tied for the fourth-best in school history and Duke's 21-1 conference mark set a new ACC record by three victories.

Duke got off to a fast start in game one with junior Jenny Shull getting a service ace right off the bat in leading Duke to a 4-0 lead. Miami crawled back into the game, pulling to within two at 16-14 before a Hunkus ace gave Duke a 19-14 advantage. Freshman Rachael Moss served three straight points near the end to help Duke to the 30-23 win. Hunkus led the way in the game with four kills while Moss and Levanas added three apiece.

Miami grabbed an early 4-2 lead in the second game before Moss served an ace and gave Duke a 5-0 run and a 7-4 lead. Bendush then had back-to-back service aces and pushed Duke's lead to 13-5 from the service line. Duke held a comfortable 25-14 lead before Miami rallied off five straight but Duke rebounded for another 30-23 win. Hunkus added four more kills in game two while sophomore Jourdan Norman had three kills for the Blue Devils. Shull had nine digs in the second game while junior Ali Hausfeld came up with 14 assists. Freshman Christina Falcone came in to serve near the end of game two, as well.

Game three was all Duke from the onset as junior Carrie DeMange served the game's first four points including a service ace and Shull added another ace while pushing Duke's lead to 7-2 early. After Bendush served four straight points, Duke's lead was 14-4 and then after Shull served seven straight, Duke held a 27-9 lead. Miami had a minor rally as Duke won the game 30-15. Levanas had five kills and Norman added four in the third game. Sophomore Sue Carls had three kills and hit .750 in the game while DeMange had two service aces in the game. Junior Daina Pucurs came in and had six assists to close out the game while freshman Brittany Staffeil had a dig that led to a point late in the game, as well.

DeMange led the way with 11 kills for Duke and Norman added seven while hitting .538 with four blocks. Hausfeld had another stellar match with 33 assists, five blocks, four digs, three kills and an ace while also hitting .500 and leading Duke to a .294 attack percentage. Miami hit just .114 in the match. Shull led the defensive effort with 15 digs and three aces for the Blue Devils.

By winning the ACC Championship last week, the Blue Devils earned a spot in the NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championship. This is the fifth time Duke has made the NCAA Tournament in head coach Jolene Nagel's eight seasons. The NCAA Tournament's 64-team bracket will be announced on ESPNEWS between 3 and 3:30 p.m. Eastern time Sunday, November 26. Immediately following the ESPNEWS announcement, the bracket will be available at www.ncaasports.com.