Upcoming Event: Volleyball versus #25 North Carolina on October 4, 2025 at 2 PM
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2 PM
Volleyball
vs #25 North Carolina
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Sunday, October 24
Tallahassee, Fla.
1:00 p.m.
Duke University
2
at
3
Florida State
Duke Falls 3-2 to No. 24 Florida State
10/24/2010 6:08:00 PM | Volleyball
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Jekaterina Stepanova and Stephanie Neville combined for 36 kills, including 25 in the final three sets, to lead No. 24 Florida State to a 3-2 (19-25, 21-25, 25-21, 25-20, 15-13) comeback win over Duke on Sunday afternoon in Tully Gym.
In a showdown between the ACC's two preseason favorites, the Blue Devils (17-4, 9-2 ACC) led 2-0 after wins of 25-19 and 25-21 in the opening two sets. But Stepanova and Neville sparked Florida State's late comeback with 11 kills in a 25-21 third-set win. From there, the duo helped lead the Seminoles to a .364 hitting percentage in a 25-20 game-four win before completing the come-from-behind victory with a 15-13 win in the fifth game.
Neville hit .429 and made only one attack error for the match while posting five of Florida State's 12.5 blocks. She came through in set five with a go-ahead kill that broke a 13-13 tie and set the Seminoles (15-6, 7-4 ACC) up for the win. Stepanova, meanwhile, led the team with 20 kills and 49 attacks while chipping in a double-double with 12 digs.
“I thought the team worked really hard out there, but after being up 2-0, I thought we needed to play with a little more urgency,” head coach Jolene Nagel said. “We gave away too much after that game two, gave away too many points. When we tried to pick up our intensity again, Florida State had already gained all that momentum and it was tough to turn it around.”
Duke led in every statistical category except blocks, of which Florida State had 12.5 and the Blue Devils had 10. The Blue Devils committed 10 service errors, however, while the Seminoles made only one.
“We did do some really good things out there, but we needed to be a little more consistent on defense to be able to open some things up for our offense,” Nagel said.
Duke got a career-high 22 kills from junior Sophia Dunworth, who hit .375 and made only four attack errors on 48 attempts. Sophomore middle Christiana Gray posted a .500 clip with 13 kills, and right side attacker Amanda Robertson went 12-for-26. Senior Becci Burling added 17 kills and five blocks while Kellie Catanach racked up 66 assists and 11 digs.
On the other end, however, the Seminoles solved the ACC's best defense and became only the seventh team this season to hit over .200 against the Blue Devils. The Seminoles setting duo of Duygu Duzceler and Patricia Figueiredo combined for 52 assists as Florida State hit .243 with Neville (.429) and Ashley Neff (.438) both hitting over .400.
Duke will now return to Cameron Indoor Stadium for a two-match homestand against Clemson and Georgia Tech on Oct. 29-30. Duke took down both the Tigers and Yellow Jackets on the road earlier this season.
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