Blue Devils Tame Tigers 3-1

Friday, October 29

Durham, N.C.

7:00 p.m.

Duke University

Clemson

Blue Devils Tame Tigers 3-1

10/29/2010 9:56:00 PM | Volleyball

By: Duke Sports Information

DURHAM, N.C. – Amanda Robertson posted a double-double with a career-high 22 kills, 16 digs and a .447 hitting percentage to lead Duke past Clemson 3-1 (25-21, 21-25, 25-18, 25-17) on Friday evening in Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Robertson connected on over half of her career-high 38 attacks and made only five attack errors against the Tigers (14-9, 5-7 ACC), who entered the match ranked sixth nationally in blocks per set. The 6-3 middle blocker opened the match with seven kills in game one and ended it with seven in game four, going without an attack error in each of those frames. The double-double was her fifth of the season and gave her a new career high with 211 kills on the year.

Senior outside hitter Claire Smalzer and junior setter Kellie Catanach also both picked up double-doubles as Duke (18-4, 10-2 ACC) used a balanced attack to hit around the Clemson front. Thanks to Catanach's equal distribution, four Blue Devils had at least 37 attacks including Smalzer who connected on 15 of her team-high 44 attempts.

While Clemson middle blocker Alexa Rand entered the match ranked third nationally in blocks per set, it was Duke middle blocker Christiana Gray who stole the show at the net. The 6-5 sophomore posted a career-high eight blocks, including four solo stops in set four, to hold the Tigers to a .169 hitting percentage. Gray took over in game four, returning a total of five Clemson attacks, as the Tigers hit only .132 in that final frame.

Gray, who also hit .412 with eight kills, was the centerpiece of a Duke defense that posted eight blocks and got double-digit digs from four players, including 26 from freshman libero Ali McCurdy. Smalzer chipped in 19 digs, Catanach added a season-high 17 and Robertson turned in 16 while sophomore Nailah Waterfield also added eight.

“We're really excited to get this win tonight over a good Clemson team that played great defense and just kept coming at us over and over again,” said head coach Jolene Nagel, who has now led the Blue Devils to at least 10 ACC wins for seven consecutive seasons. “We knew that it was going to be a fight. Our team made some good adjustments going into game three and game four, and we played much better defense in those last two games so we could keep ourselves in rallies to be able to score. I'm especially excited to see double-digit digs from so many people on our team.

“In games one and two, I thought we were doing some really good things, but we weren't pushing though long enough to get points on those long rallies. I was really happy to see our team stay mentally tough out there because Clemson played great defense and just kept coming at us so far. I was just happy to see our team continue to fight out there.”

Duke and Clemson traded points in the opening game and exchanged the lead four times before the Blue Devils went on a late run to win 25-21. Robertson proved too much for the Tigers as she connected on seven of 11 attacks with no errors. McCurdy contributed seven digs to help hold Clemson to a .222 hitting percentage as Duke broke a 16-16 tie and ended the match on a 9-5 run.

The Tigers bounced back in set two, however, and hit .316 against the Blue Devils to tie the match with a 25-21 win. Setter Hannah Brenner dished out 10 assists, and Sandra Adeleye knocked down five kills in the win. Clemson overcame a 16-10 deficit and ended the match on a 15-5 run.

Duke shut down the Tigers offense in the third frame, however, and held Clemson to a .054 clip to claim game three 25-18. McCurdy picked up 10 more digs to put herself over 20 for the match, while Robertson and Smalzer both chipped in seven digs to complete their double-doubles. Robertson and Gray combined for 10 of Duke's 17 kills.

Gray took over in game four and almost single-handedly shut down the Tiger offense. The 6-5 sophomore posted four solo blocks and helped out on another as the Tigers connected on only 13 of their 38 attacks. Robertson took care of the offense and put down seven of her 11 attacks, while Becci Burling, Smalzer and Sophia Dunworth also posted multiple kills.

The Blue Devils continue their two-match homestand on Saturday, Oct. 30, against the third-place Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets at 7 p.m.