Blue Devils Roll Past Butler, 3-0, Edge Arizona State, 3-2

Friday, September 15

Tempe, Ariz.

10 p.m.

Duke University

Arizona State

Blue Devils Roll Past Butler, 3-0, Edge Arizona State, 3-2

9/16/2006 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball

By: Duke Sports Information

TEMPE, Ariz. ? The Duke volleyball team improved to 7-1 on the season with wins over Butler and Arizona State on Friday on the opening day of the Sun Devil Volleyball Classic at Wells Fargo Arena. The Blue Devils rolled to a 3-0 (30-17, 30-13, 30-19) victory over the Bulldogs before posting a 3-2 (30-28, 20-30, 24-30, 30-24, 18-16) win over the host Sun Devils.

Butler scored the first point of the opening match but it would be the only lead the Bulldogs had in game one as Duke responded with five straight points to take a 5-1 lead. The Blue Devils then went on a 9-3 run to extend their lead to 13-4. Butler would close the gap to five points at 18-13 before Duke used a 12-4 run to take game one, 30-17.

The Blue Devils then took a two game lead and never trailed as they rolled to a 17-point game two victory at 30-13.

In the third game, the Bulldogs jumped out to a 2-0 advantage before the Blue Devils used an 8-2 run to keep the momentum. Duke would take 10-point leads on seven occasions throughout the game on their way to a 30-19 game three victory.

Junior Ali Hausfeld paced the Duke attack with a match-high 34 assists. Sophomore Sue Carls led the Blue Devils with nine kills while sophomore Jourdan Norman and freshman Rachael Moss had eight kills apiece. Junior Carrie DeMange added seven kills and a career-high five service aces and sophomore Aana Wherry contributed five kills in the win.

Junior Jenny Shull anchored the Blue Devil defense with a match-high 14 digs while DeMange registered 13 digs, Hausfeld had eight digs and Moss and Wherry added six digs each.

Arizona State jumped out to a 10-6 lead early in the opening game. Duke fought back to tie the game at 15-15 before using a 10-5 run to take a 25-20 lead. The Sun Devils would score eight of the next 12 points to cut Duke's lead to 29-28 but a kill by senior Tealle Hunkus gave the Blue Devils a 30-28 game one victory.

After Arizona State took a two games to one lead with a 30-20 victory in game two and a 30-24 victory in game three, Duke tied the match at two games apiece with a 30-24 win in the fourth game. The Sun Devils took an early 8-4 lead in game four, and after Duke tied the game at 10-10, the two teams essentially traded points until the Blue Devils went on a late 7-1 run to win 30-24.

In the fifth and final game, the Blue Devils held the largest lead of the frame at 9-6. Arizona State would tie the game five times down the stretch before Duke pulled out an 18-16 victory.

Hausfeld led the Blue Devils in the victory, posting her fifth career triple-double. The junior setter recorded 57 assists, 10 kills and a career-high tying 18 digs.

DeMange led the offense with a match-high 21 kills and added 15 digs for her third double-double of the season. The junior middle blocker also had six blocks and a career-high tying five assists. DeMange surpassed the 1,000-career kills plateau in the win and now has 1,017 kills in her career.

Moss notched her second career double-double with 13 kills and a career-high 17 digs while Carls posted a career-high 16 kills. Norman added 11 kills and five blocks in the win.

Shull again anchored the Duke defense with a team-best 30 digs. It was the fourth time in her career that she has recorded 30 or more digs.

The Blue Devils will wrap up their non-conference schedule and the Sun Devil Volleyball Classic with a 7 p.m. match against Notre Dame on Saturday. Duke will open Atlantic Coast Conference play next weekend by hosting Clemson and Georgia Tech at Cameron Indoor Stadium. The Blue Devils posted a league-best 10-1 record in the second half of the ACC season last year to finish one win shy of a three-way tie for first place. Duke was picked to win the ACC crown by the league's head coaches for the second straight year prior to the start of the 2006 season and juniors Carrie DeMange, Ali Hausfeld and Jenny Shull were all named to the preseason All-ACC team.

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