Blue Devils Silence Wolfpack 3-0

Friday, November 20

Durham, N.C.

7:00 p.m.

Duke University

N.C. State

Blue Devils Silence Wolfpack 3-0

11/20/2009 6:00:00 PM | Volleyball

By: Duke Sports Information

DURHAM, N.C. - Libero Claire Smalzer picked up 23 digs in just three sets to lead Duke to a 3-0 (25-11, 25-16, 25-13) win over NC State Friday evening in Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Smalzer, a 5-10 junior, collected 16 of those digs in the second set and helped to hold the Wolfpack (7-26, 0-18 ACC) to a .066 hitting percentage for the match. Smalzer has played a significant role in a Duke defense that has held opponents to an ACC-low .158 hitting percentage and helped the Blue Devils reach 25 wins for the fourth consecutive season.

Duke (25-5, 15-3) was just as good on the offensive end, posting a .381 hitting percentage with 42 kills compared to just five errors. Senior Rachael Moss and junior Becci Burling each reached double figures with 12 kill and 10 kills, respectively, while sophomore Sophia Dunworth added eight with no attack errors. Setter Kellie Catanach also dished out 31 assists in the win.

Moss was one of four Blue Devils to hit over .400 in the match, posting a .476 clip. Sophomore Kayla Kirk went 3-for-6 (.500), while Dunworth finished at .471 and senior Brittany Staffeil hit .429 with no errors. Amanda Robertson (.385) and Burling (.308) also finished over .300.

NC State managed just 26 kills on 106 attacks while committing 19 attack errors. Lisa Kretchman provided the bulk of NC State's offense with seven kills.

The Wolfpack also had trouble defending Duke's serve, giving up eight service aces, including two each to Burling and Nailah Waterfield. Moss, Catanach, Smalzer and Alex Sall also added aces with Smalzer putting down her team-leading 36^th of the season.

Duke opened the match by posting a .542 hitting percentage with no attack errors en route to a 25-11 win. The Blue Devils totaled 13 kills in the opener with six coming from Moss, who hit .750 on eight attacks. Catanach directed the offense with 11 assists and saw over 60 percent of her sets put down for kills. Defensively, Duke held the Wolfpack to an even .000 clip, forcing eight attack errors. Duke also got a pair of blocks from Moss and Dunworth. The Blue Devils a 16-4 lead and led by as much as 15 before NC State finally got into double figures with Duke at match point.

Smalzer almost single-handedly shut down NC State's offense in set two, racking up 16 digs to lead the Blue Devils to a 25-16 victory. The 5-10 libero led a Duke effort that surrendered just 10 kills on NC State's 46 attacks and no service aces. The Wolfpack still managed to hang with Duke early in the match, trailing 13-11, but could not keep the Blue Devils down for long. Duke ended the match on a 12-5 run that featured eight Blue Devils kills. Senior Christina Falcone took over for Catanach with Duke leading 19-13 and finished by dishing out five assists on Duke's final six points.

The third set featured more Duke offense to the tune of a .400 hitting percentage that was good enough to give Duke a 25-13 win. Moss put down four kills, while Burling finished with three. Duke made just two attack errors in the final set, giving them a total of just five errors in the match. NC State, meanwhile, hit under .100 for the third time and failed to rebound from a 10-3 Duke run that broke open a 10-8 Duke lead. After the rally, Duke led 20-11 and cruised to the win.

Duke returns to action on Saturday against Tobacco Road rival North Carolina at 7:30 p.m. The match will follow the Duke men's basketball game at 3 p.m. in Cameron Indoor Stadium.

-d-u-k-e-