Duke Topples Virginia Tech 3-1 To Win Seventh Straight

Saturday, October 3

Durham, N.C.

7:00 p.m.

Duke University

Virginia Tech

Volleyball Looks to Gain Ground in ACC this Weekend

Duke Topples Virginia Tech 3-1 To Win Seventh Straight

10/3/2009 9:45:00 PM | Volleyball

By: Duke Sports Information

DURHAM, N.C. - Becci Burling and Rachael Moss combined for 28 kills and a .312 hitting percentage to lead Duke to a 3-1 (21-25, 25-20, 25-18, 25-23) win over Virginia Tech Saturday evening in Cameron Indoor Stadium.

The win was the seventh straight for the Blue Devils (15-2, 5-0 ACC), who have now won 15 sets against ACC teams while dropping just one. Duke also extended its ACC winning streak to nine matches, dating back to 2008, and currently sits atop the ACC standings alongside Georgia Tech.

Moss and Burling both reached double figures for the third straight match with Moss leading the way with 15 kills and Burling finishing with 13. The duo came up big in the final two sets with Moss recording 10 of her kills in games three and four and Burling hitting .500 with no errors over those last two frames.

Moss also keyed a crucial run in the second game when she dropped in four consecutive service aces, including the 150^th of her four-year career. With 18 aces this season, Moss now has 151 in her four seasons at Duke to become only the third player in school history to reach the 150-ace plateau.

Virginia Tech (11-5, 1-4 ACC) took the opening set 25-21, but could not keep up with Duke's adjustments and dropped the last three games. The Hokies came out with a strong defensive effort in the opener and held Duke to a .158 clip, but then allowed Burling and Moss to take over for the final three games. The Hokies could also do little to stop setter Kellie Catanach, who finished with 44 assists and directed Duke to a .433 clip in the final game.

The Hokies also had trouble stopping freshman Christiana Gray, who finished with six kills and a .545 hitting percentage. A 6-5 middle blocker, Gray has now hit at least .368 in five straight matches and leads Duke with a .384 hitting percentage. Gray also worked her way in on three of Duke's nine blocks, two of which were solo stops.

Duke also got a 15-dig performance from libero Claire Smalzer, who also dropped in three service aces to bring her team-leading total to 24. That is a new career high for the 5-10 junior, who had 22 as a freshman and 12 as a sophomore. Duke had a noticeable edge in the serving game with eight aces and just two receiving errors.

Virginia Tech jumped out to a 10-5 lead in the first set and rode that momentum to a 25-21 final. The Hokies used a .360 hitting percentage to build as much as a seven-point lead before Duke mounted a late rally that cut the deficit to 23-20. Trailing 21-14, Duke opened a 6-2 run that featured kills from Moss and senior Juliana Traut. The three-point spread would be as close as Duke would come to tying the match, however, as two Duke errors - one attacking and one serving - sealed the first-set win for the Hokies.

Duke bounced back to take set two 25-20 on the strength of three kills and four service aces from Moss. Moss went 3-for-6 without an error and put down all four of her aces in succession in the win. With Duke and Virginia Tech trading points through the first half of the game, Moss overcame a 14-12 deficit with four straight aces to put Duke ahead 16-14. Duke never relinquished the lead after Moss' run and did not make a single error over the remainder of the set. Freshman Megan Hendrickson also came off the bench to contribute two key kills, both of which came in the second half of the game.

The Blue Devils continued to suffocate Virginia Tech's offense and held the Hokies to a .000 hitting percentage in the third set on the way to a 25-18 win. After Virginia Tech hit .360 in the opening frame, Duke held the Hokies to a .116 clip in set two before giving up just eight kills in the third frame. A pair of blocks from Hendrickson and another solo stop from Moss helped the cause, as did Moss' four digs. Burling led the offense with four kills on eight errorless attacks while Catanach tossed up 12 assists.

But while both teams struggled offensively in the third set, neither team had an answer defensively in the fourth game when Duke hit .433 and Virginia Tech hit .371. Duke, however, had a slight edge in the serving game where they gave up just one ace and made just one error to win the game 25-23 and lock up the match. Neither team established a lead greater than three points for the entire game and locked into a 23-23 tie. Duke, however, got a break when Record committed her only serving error of the evening to put Duke in a match-point situation. From there, Gray blocked Horowitz' final attack for the final point.

Duke will host another weekend homestand next Friday and Saturday, Oct. 9-10 against Miami and No. 17 Florida State in Cameron Indoor Stadium. Duke, Florida State and Miami were picked to finish first, second and third, respectively, in the ACC Preseason Coaches Poll.

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