Duke Stings Georgia Tech 3-2

Saturday, October 24

Atlanta, Ga.

7:00 p.m.

Duke University

Georgia Tech

Moss Named First Team Academic All-America

Duke Stings Georgia Tech 3-2

10/24/2009 10:00:00 PM | Volleyball

By: Duke Sports Information

ATLANTA, Ga. - Rachael Moss broke out with a season-high 23 kills to lead Duke to a 3-2 (25-23, 21-25, 19-25, 25-23, 15-11) win over Georgia Tech Saturday evening in O'Keefe Gym, vaulting the Blue Devils ahead of the Yellow Jackets for sole possession of second place in the ACC.

Moss came up big in the final two sets, finishing with nine kills and just one error after the Blue Devils (19-4, 9-2 ACC) found themselves down 2-1 in the match. Duke even fell behind 18-12 in the fourth set, but rallied to tie the match with a narrow 25-23 fourth-set win. With the score evened, Moss hit four of her final 11 attacks in a 15-11 game-five victory without making an error to lock up the win.

A three-time AVCA All-America selection, Moss hit .400 for the match and committed just three errors on a team-leading 50 attacks. The senior outside hitter teamed up with junior Becci Burling and sophomore Sophia Dunworth to account for 75 percent of Duke's kills on the night. Burling piled up 13 - extending a streak of eight consecutive matches with at least 10 kills - while Dunworth added 10.

Feeding the offensive outburst was setter Kellie Catanach, who tossed up 45 assists. Catanach also helped out defensively with nine digs and two blocks to help hold Georgia Tech (14-7, 8-3 ACC) to a .170 hitting percentage. The Yellow Jackets entered the weekend ranked among the top two in the ACC in assists and kills, but could do little against a Duke defense that got five block each from Burling and freshman Christiana Gray and a combined 30 digs from libero Claire Smalzer and defensive specialist Nailah Waterfield.

Georgia Tech came out swinging and posted a combined .281 hitting percentage in the first two sets. That mark quickly fell, however, after Duke zeroed in on the Yellow Jackets' gameplan and held them to a .107 clip over the final three games. Duke had trouble stopping Georgia Tech's Chrissy DeMichelis and Brittany Roderick, however, as each of those Yellow Jackets finished over .290 hitting while reaching double digits. Roderick was especially efficient with a .529 clip, but Duke as able to make up the difference by holding the rest of the Georgia Tech lineup to a .076 hitting percentage and just nine kills.

The Blue Devils took the opening game 25-23 on the strength of 6-for-7 showing from Moss, but dropped the next two sets to find themselves in a 2-1 hole. Facing a loss with another Georgia Tech win, the Blue Devils seemed destined to fall in the fourth set after the Yellow Jackets jumped ahead 18-12. Duke plugged away, however, and rebounded from the six-point deficit to tie the match at 19-19. The 7-2 run included four kills from Burling, setting the table for another rally that saw Moss put down two more kills on the way to a 24-23 advantage. Georgia Tech bounced back after every point to tie the match, batting to a 23-23 deadlock, but finally stumbled and committed two costly error - one attacking and one setting - to give away the final two points and let Duke back into the match.

After the fourth-set comeback, Duke took hold of the match and broke open a 7-7 fifth-set tie by outscoring Georgia Tech 8-4 over the remainder of the final set for a 15-11 victory. Moss was flawless, contributing four kills without any errors, while Burling, Gray and senior Brittany Staffeil provided crucial blocks in the win. Georgia Tech bounced back at one point to come within two of tying it at 12-10, but a kill from Burling and a combined block from Staffeil and Gray regained a 14-10 lead for the Blue Devils. From there, Catanach went to Moss for the final point, letting her senior teammate cap the win with her 23^rd kill of the match.

Now in sole possession of second place in the ACC and trailing Florida State by a half game, the Blue Devils return to Cameron Indoor Stadium for a pair of home matches on Oct. 30-31. Duke will have to take down both Boston College and Maryland that weekend to stay in the hunt for the ACC title.

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