Duke Dominates Dawgs 3-1

Friday, September 4

Athens, Ga.

7:00 p.m.

Duke University

Georgia

Duke Volleyball Notes: NCAA Tournament (Rounds 1-2)

9/4/2009 9:45:00 PM | Volleyball

By: Duke Sports Information

ATHENS, Ga. - Amanda Robertson and Becci Burling combined for 27 kills and 12 blocks to lead Duke to a 3-1 (25-19, 21-25, 25-21, 25-15) win over Georgia on the first day of the Dawgs Invitational in the Ramsey Center.

Robertson, a 6-3 sophomore, led all Duke players with a career-high 15 kills on a .519 hitting percentage and chipped in four blocks. Burling, a 6-1 junior, led the way with eight blocks in addition to 12 kills, a .346 hitting percentage and a service ace. The middle blocking duo was part of an offensive effort that featured a .292 team hitting percentage and a defensive effort that limited Georgia to a .089 clip.

"I'm really pleased with how the girls hung in there in another great volleyball environment on the road," head coach Jolene Nagel said. "We played really hard and made things happen for ourselves. How we communicated out there was a big part of that. The girls played great together tonight in order to get this win."

Duke (3-1, 0-0 ACC) put back 13 blocks and forced 27 Georgia attack errors. Only one Bulldog - Valentina Gonzalez, who went 10-for-18 - hit over .105 in the match against a Duke defense that is averaging 2.60 blocks per set on the season. Only one of Duke's first four opponents have hit better than .140 against the Blue Devils, thanks in part to Burling who is averaging 1.71 blocks per set this season.

Duke's offense came from the entire lineup as setter Kellie Catanach effectively spread the ball around and racked up 41 assists while giving four different players at least 20 attacks. While Robertson (27) and Burling (25) took the majority, sophomore Sophia Dunworth made the best of her 22 opportunities and contributed 12 kills and a .409 hitting percentage. Senior Brittany Staffeil was also flawless, going 5-for-10 with two service aces and no hitting errors.

The Blue Devils did not commit a single error in the final set, finishing 16-for-26 for a .615 hitting percentage.

Duke controlled the match from the first set, racking up three blocks in the opener to hold Georgia to an even .000 clip. Georgia bounced back to win set two, thanks to a well-timed 6-0 run that came when Duke led 20-19. Two service aces from Georgia's Carla Tietz sparked the rally that ended when Briana Bahr ended it with her third kill of the set.

With the match tied at 1-1, Dunworth and Robertson took over and combined to go 8-for-13 without an attack error as part of a 25-21 third-set victory. Duke put back four more blocks - three of which came from Burling and Catanach - and held the advantage in the serving game where Burling and libero Claire Smalzer chipped in one ace apiece.

The final set featured a flawless performance from Duke that did not feature a single attack error. Robertson went 5-for-6 and Burling 4-for-7 to help Duke run away with the match-clinching set. After breaking away with an early 7-1 run, the Blue Devils led by as much as 20-10 before putting their third win in the books.

Now 1-0 at the Dawgs Invitational, Duke will have a shot to win the tournament on Saturday, Sept. 5. Two final matches await the Blue Devils, the first of which is against South Alabama at 10 a.m. and the second against Tennessee State at 4:30 p.m.

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