Blue Devils Sweep Eastern Kentucky, Fall To No. 2 Penn State On Saturday

Saturday, September 2

University Park, Pa.

1 p.m.

Duke University

Eastern Kentucky

Blue Devils Sweep Eastern Kentucky, Fall To No. 2 Penn State On Saturday

9/2/2006 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball

By: Duke Sports Information

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. ? The Duke volleyball team went 1-1 on Saturday at the 2006 Penn State Classic, defeating Eastern Kentucky, 3-0 (30-27, 30-28, 30-18), before falling to No. 2 Penn State, 3-0 (18-30, 18-30, 22-30), at Rec Hall. The Blue Devils won two of their three matches over the weekend to improve their record to 5-1 on the season.

Following the tournament, juniors Ali Hausfeld and Jenny Shull were named to the Penn State Classic All-Tournament Team.

Early in the opening game, Eastern Kentucky jumped out to a 10-6 lead. Duke came back to tie the match at 10-10 and again at 11-11 before taking their first lead at 12-11. After the Colonels took a 21-19 lead later in the game, the Blue Devils would score five of the next seven points to go ahead 24-23. Eastern Kentucky would then tie the game at 24-24 before Duke used a 6-3 run to win game one, 30-27.

Duke fell behind 1-0 at the start of game two but scored three straight points to take a 3-1 lead. After Eastern Kentucky tied it at 4-4, the Blue Devils scored four straight points for an 8-4 lead. The Colonels again tied the game at 8-8, 9-9 and 10-10 before Duke went on another 4-0 run to take a 14-10 lead. Eastern Kentucky would take their first lead of the game at 18-17 before pulling ahead by three points at 23-20. Duke would battle back to tie the game at 25-25, 26-26 and 27-27 before taking a 28-27 lead on their way to a 30-28 game two victory.

“We seemed to be a little tight and made a lot of early errors in the first two games,” acknowledged Duke head coach Jolene Nagel. “We had to buckle down to get momentum. Once we settled down, we were able to go on runs for points and we executed better.”

The Blue Devils jumped out to a 4-1 lead early in the third game. Eastern Kentucky would then tie the game at 5-5 before Duke went on an 8-2 run for a 13-7 lead. After the Colonels made it a three-point game at 14-11, the Blue Devils scored three straight points to go ahead 17-11. Eastern Kentucky would cut the lead to 18-13 before Duke pulled ahead by 10 points at 23-13. The Blue Devils would then score seven of the next 12 points to close out the match with a 30-18 game three win.

“I was pleased with how we hung in there when we weren't playing our best in order to get the win in game one,” Nagel added. “Game two was better but we made too many early errors. Once we minimized those errors, things ran more smoothly and we got into a rhythm that carried into game three.”

Junior Carrie DeMange led the Duke attack with a team-high 15 kills. Senior Pixie Levanas posted 10 kills, sophomore Jourdan Norman had nine kills and sophomore Sue Carls added six kills in the win. Hausfeld paced the Blue Devil offense with a match-high 41 assists.

Sophomore Aana Wherry anchored the Duke defense with 14 digs, tying her career high which was set last night in the Blue Devils' 3-0 win over West Virginia. Shull had 11 digs and DeMange added seven digs and four blocks. Junior Shelley Capito set a career high with seven digs and Norman added a match-high five blocks for the Blue Devils.

“Eastern Kentucky played very aggressive and hard,” Nagel said. “It was hard to put a ball away on them. They were very scrappy on defense.”

In the nightcap against No. 2 Penn State, the Nittany Lions jumped out to an early 9-4 lead in game one. After falling behind 13-8, Duke rallied for four consecutive points to make it a 13-12 game. Penn State would then go on a 10-2 run to take a 23-14 lead on their way to a 30-18 game one victory.

Duke would take a 5-2 lead early in the second game before a four-point run by Penn State put the Nittany Lions up 6-5. After the Blue Devils tied the game at 6-6, 9-9 and 10-10, Penn State went on a 20-8 outburst to take game two, 30-18.

The Blue Devils held the lead six times early on in game three, but after the Nittany Lions tied it at 9-9, Penn State went on a 12-5 run to pull ahead 21-14. Duke battled back to make it a five-point game at 23-18 but that was as close as they would get as the Nittany Lions held on for a 30-22 win.

Hausfeld paced the Duke attack with 33 assists to go along with six kills. DeMange posted a team-high nine kills, Wherry had seven kills and Carls and Levanas added six and five kills, respectively.

Shull anchored the Duke defense with a match-high 13 digs in the loss. Wherry added eight digs, DeMange had six digs and freshman Brittany Staffeil contributed a career-high five digs against the Nittany Lions.

“We had a wonderful opportunity to play the second-ranked team in the country,” Nagel said. “Their size and strength at the net put up a formidable block which was difficult to get around. Even though we did not have the outcome we would have liked, I was pleased to see our team improve as the match went on. We grew tonight as a team and we will be a stronger team down the road as a result of this match tonight.”

The Blue Devils will return to action Sept. 15-16 at the 2006 Sun Devil Volleyball Classic at Arizona State. Duke will take on Butler and Arizona State on Sept. 15 before facing No. 21 Notre Dame on Sept. 16.

Penn State Classic All-Tournament Team
Most Valuable Player - Nicole Fawcett, Penn State

Ali Hausfeld, Duke
Jenny Shull, Duke
Kelly Jennings, Eastern Kentucky
Christa Harmotto, Penn State
Megan Hodge, Penn State
Roberta Holehouse, Penn State

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