Duke Stays In Hunt For ACC Title With 3-0 Sweep Over Virginia

Saturday, November 22

Durham, N.C.

7:00 p.m.

Duke University

Virginia

Catanach Named Student-Athlete Of The Week

Duke Stays In Hunt For ACC Title With 3-0 Sweep Over Virginia

11/22/2008 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball

By: Duke Sports Information

DURHAM, N.C. - Rachael Moss and Kellie Catanach both recorded double-doubles for the second straight night to help the Duke volleyball team to a 3-0 (26-24, 25-15, 25-21) win over Virginia Saturday evening at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Moss put down 14 of her 36 attacks and collected 15 digs, while Catanach doubled up with 43 assists and 13 digs in the win. Duke (23-8, 14-5 ACC) improved to 11-1 at Cameron Indoor Stadium and stayed tied atop the ACC standings with North Carolina.

Along with Moss and Catanach's efforts, Duke freshman Amanda Robertson also had a big night on the defensive end and finished with 19 digs, which was a three-set career high for the 6-3 middle blocker and just one shy of matching her career high of 20.

Those three, along with senior Jourdan Norman who had four blocks, helped hold Virginia (16-15, 8-11 ACC) to a .098 hitting percentage after allowing just 29 of Virginia's 132 attacks to hit the court. Duke also played strong on the serving end against Virginia and gave up just two aces, thanks to libero Claire Smalzer, who chipped in 18 errorless serve receptions. Smalzer also put in 10 digs to extend a streak of 14 consecutive matches with double-digit digs.

The Blue Devils slipped in five aces on the night with two each coming from Moss and Robertson ? who rank one and two in the ACC in service aces ? and the other from sophomore Becci Burling.

"I'm really excited that we were able to get this win at home tonight on our senior night and be able to thank the seniors for all of their commitment, hard work and efforts these past four years,” Duke head coach Jolene Nagel said. “They've been a tremendous group that's contributed greatly in all facets of the program, and they'll be greatly missed.”

All three of Duke's seniors ? Norman, Sue Carls and Aana Wherry ? contributed to the win, with Norman adding to her school-record block total, Carls hitting .292 with 10 kills and Wherry adding six digs and six errorless service receptions.

It was the freshman trio of Catanach, Sophia Dunworth and Robertson led Duke to a win in the opening set, however, with Catanach and Dunworth leading the offense with 15 assists and four kills, respectively, and Robertson taking care of the defensive end with nine digs. Duke held a slim lead through most of the opening set, but gave away the lead after Virginia's Kendahl Voelker broke a 20-20 tie with a kill. The Cavaliers went on to build a 23-21 lead before the Blue Devils stormed back to tie the score at 23-23 on a pair of consecutive kills from Moss. The back-to-back points forced Virginia to take a timeout, but the break did little to stop Duke's momentum. Burling came out with a service ace to put Duke ahead 24-23, but Davis followed with a kill to tie the score again at 24-24. Not to be outdone, Norman responded with a kill that put Duke ahead 25-24, and Catanach ended the match with another kill.

The second set was a different story, as Duke hit .308 with 17 kills and held Virginia to a .044 clip on the way to a 25-15 win. Duke led by as much as 11 points at 15-4, thanks to four kills from Burling, three each from Dunworth and Robertson and two more each from Moss and Carls. Catanach churned out 13 more assists and another kill, while Robertson added six more digs to her total. Moss also racked up seven digs in the outing. Duke put together runs of 6-0 and 4-0 in the frame and forced six Virginia attack errors on three blocks, all of which involved Norman.

The second-set loss lit a fire under Virginia, as they jumped out to a big lead and stayed ahead for the majority of the frame. Still, the Cavaliers could not hold off the Blue Devils, who battled back to tie the set at 18-18 before ending it on a 7-3 run. Virginia fell behind 9-7, but scored five unanswered points to build a 12-9 lead. That lead eventually built to as much as four points before the Blue Devils rallied from a 17-13 deficit with a 5-1 run to tie the score. After a timeout, the Cavaliers gave away two straight points before tying the match at 20-20. That would be the closest Virginia got to reclaiming the lead, however, as Burling, Carls and Dunworth connected on three straight kills and Carls and Moss finished the set with two more kills.

The Blue Devils will play their final match of the regular season this Tuesday, Nov. 25, at home against Wake Forest. The match will begin at 7 p.m. and will be broadcast on ACC Select at www.ACCSelect.com.

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