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7 PM
Volleyball
at Georgia Tech
Saturday, August 26
Durham, N.C.
10 a.m.
Duke University
3
vs
0
Gardner-Webb
Blue Devils Capture Duke Invitational Title For Fourth Straight Year
8/26/2006 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
DURHAM, N.C. ? Tealle Hunkus played her way to tournament MVP honors as she led Duke to a pair of sweeps over Gardner-Webb and VCU Saturday at Cameron Indoor Stadium in the 2006 Duke Invitational. Duke defeated Gardner-Webb 30-14, 30-15, 30-20 and VCU 30-24, 30-22, 30-28 to claim the championship for the fourth straight season.
Hunkus was joined by juniors Ali Hausfeld and Carrie DeMange on the all-tournament team while junior Jenny Shull was named the most outstanding libero.
Hunkus led Duke against VCU with 15 kills while hitting .321. She added seven digs and received 15 serves without a reception error. Shull, who recorded her 1,000th career dig in the win over VCU, posted her third straight match with 20 or more digs, scooping up 24 on the night. She also received 22 serves without a reception error.
Hausfeld spread the wealth offensively with five players recording between 21 and 28 attacks. She finished with 36 assists and added four kills and seven digs.
DeMange recorded six kills and six digs to finish an outstanding tournament.
Freshman Rachael Moss nearly missed a double-double with 15 digs and nine kills and she added a pair of digs and another outstanding performance from the service line.
Sophomores Sue Carls (nine kills, four blocks) and Jourdan Norman (six kills, five blocks) also played well for the Blue Devils while junior Shelley Capito saw back-row action and served well while recording a dig.
After taking game one in their match with Gardner-Webb, the Blue Devils broke open game two with a 15-4 lead. Gardner-Webb would then close the gap to 16-10 before Duke scored 14 of the next 19 points for a 30-15 win.
With the score knotted at 12-12 midway through the third game, Duke used a 13-2 run to take a 25-14 lead on their way to closing out the match.
Norman led the Duke attack with 10 kills, while DeMange posted eight kills, sophomore Aana Wherry had seven kills and senior Pixie Levanas and freshman Brittany Staffeil added five kills apiece.
Freshman Christina Falcone paced the offense with 16 assists in her collegiate debut, while Hausfeld and junior Daina Pucurs added 11 and nine assists, respectively. Capito also had a career-high and match-high four service aces in the win.
Shull recorded a match-high 20 digs to lead the Blue Devil defense. DeMange added 10 digs and four blocks and Norman had a match-high eight blocks. Wherry and Moss posted seven digs each and Pucurs contributed six digs against the Bulldogs.
The Blue Devils will travel to University Park, Pa., next weekend to compete in the 2006 Penn State Invitational. Duke will face West Virginia on Friday at 6:30 p.m. before taking on Eastern Kentucky and Penn State on Saturday.
2006 Duke Invitational All-Tournament Team
MVP: Tealle Hunkus (Duke)
Ali Hausfeld (Duke)
Carrie DeMange (Duke)
Ludmila Francescatto (VCU)
Laryssa Goncalves (VCU)
Audra Harrison (Gardner-Webb)
Jamie Mueller (Marquette)
Libero: Jenny Shull (Duke)
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Players Mentioned
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