Duke Splits Final Two Matches At InnTower Invitational

Saturday, August 29

Madison, Wis.

11:00 a.m.

Duke University

University of South Dakota

Duke Splits Final Two Matches At InnTower Invitational

8/29/2009 3:30:00 PM | Volleyball

By: Duke Sports Information

MADISON, Wisc. -- The Duke volleyball team split its final two matches at the InnTower Invitational, topping South Dakota 3-0 (25-12, 25-19, 25-22) in Saturday's opener before falling 3-0 (29-27, 25-19, 25-22) to Ohio Saturday evening at the UW Field House. Duke (2-1, 0-0 ACC) picked up two wins overall at the InnTower Invitational after taking down host Wisconsin 3-2 in the opening match.

Against South Dakota (0-2), Blue Devil freshman Megan Hendrickson hammered 12 kills and finished with a .375 hitting percentage in just her second collegiate match. She made only three attack errors to help the Blue Devils hit .420 against the Coyotes. Duke's efficiency against South Dakota was also bolstered by sophomore setter Kellie Catanach, who chipped in 27 assists, saw 55 percent of her sets go down for kills and finished 5-for-8 attacking.

Also getting in on the action against South Dakota were freshman Christiana Gray, who went 7-for-12 attacking, sophomore Sophia Dunworth (4-for-6) and senior Brittany Staffeil (7-for-15), who played in front of a hometown crowd in Madison, Wisc.

"I thought we did a great job of working together as a team out there to get the win against South Dakota," head coach Jolene Nagel said. "We were able to get a lot of people in there, and there was no lapse in communication or our ability to execute no matter who was in the game."

Duke clicked on all cylinders in the opener, shutting down the Coyote offense while never relinquishing a lead. South Dakota mustered a .106 hitting percentage and gave way to five Duke service aces, a combined four of which were from Dunworth and libero Claire Smalzer, while the other came from Staffeil. Smalzer also collected 12 digs and now leads Duke with 26 digs and five service aces through the first two matches.

Middle blocker Becci Burling, who record a career-high 11 blocks in Duke's season opener on Friday, chipped in two more stops to bring her total to 13 through Duke's first two matches. Burling was also 3-for-5 attacking without an error in the first match and 6-of-13 in the second bout.

All four of Duke's freshmen got in against South Dakota, including Phoebe Maglathlin, who made her collegiate debut, and Nailah Waterfield, who has appeared in nine of Duke's 11 sets so far this season.

But while Duke did little wrong in the sweep over South Dakota, Ohio turned the tables on the defensive end with nine blocks and in the serving game where the Bobcats dropped in 12 service aces. Four different Bobcats recorded multiple service aces, including Katie Post, who had four, and Helen Herman and Michelle Jantsch who had three apiece.

"They [Ohio] were the aggressors tonight," Nagel said. "In order to be successful against a team like that, we need to compete with a higher intensity and maintain that throughout the match."

Dunworth was Duke's most efficient attacker once again against Ohio, picking up 10 kills while hitting over .300 for the third straight match. With a team-leading 30 kills on 59 attacks, Dunworth has made just eight errors and boasts a .373 hitting percentage for the season.

Moss also chipped in nine kills on a .350 clip with five of those coming in the first set. But even with Moss going 5-for-10 and Catanach dishing out 13 assists, Ohio managed to edge the Blue Devils 29-27 in the opening set. The Blue Devils fought off match point, trailing 24-23, but missed out on two match point opportunities of their own. Ohio's Jane Sytsma spoiled Duke's final shot at winning the set with a kill that tied the score at 27-27, setting the table for two consecutive service aces from Post that gave the Bobcats the 29-27 victory. After the narrow win, Ohio carried the momentum to win the final two sets.

Up next for Duke is three matches at the Dawgs Invitational, hosted by the University of Georgia in Athens, Ga. Duke will open the tournament against Georgia on Friday and conclude with bouts against South Alabama and Tennessee State on Saturday.

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