Blue Devils Tame Wolfpack 3-0

Saturday, October 9

Durham, N.C.

7:00 p.m.

Duke University

N.C. State

Blue Devils Tame Wolfpack 3-0

10/9/2010 6:20:00 PM | Volleyball

By: Duke Sports Information

DURHAM, N.C. – Becci Burling knocked down 13 kills and hit .500 to lead first-place Duke past N.C. State 3-0 (25-20, 25-20, 25-13) on Saturday evening in Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Burling made only one error on 24 attacks as the Blue Devils (15-2, 7-0 ACC) posted their second straight sweep and seventh straight conference win. The 6-1 senior had at least four kills against N.C. State (12-7, 2-5 ACC) in every set and now needs only 23 more kills to become the 19th Duke player to reach 1,000 for her career.

Burling also worked her way in on three of Duke's 10 stops as the Blue Devils held N.C. State to a .144 hitting percentage. Burling had two solo stops while sophomore Christiana Gray totaled five blocks and libero Ali McCurdy collected 27 digs. McCurdy, a freshman, went over the 300-dig mark for the season and currently ranks second in the ACC with 4.83 digs per set.

Gray also contributed offensively, knocking down eight kills on a .500 hitting percentage. She and junior outside hitter Sophia Dunworth made only one error each as junior setter Kellie Catanach directed Duke to a .310 hitting percentage for the team's third straight match with at least a .300 clip. The entire Blue Devil team got in on the action with sophomore Megan Hendrickson totaling three kills on seven attacks and Kayla Kirk and Chelsea Cook both going 1-for-2 late in set three.

“I'm really proud of the team and how they competed this weekend, being able to get two wins at home in the ACC,” head coach Jolene Nagel said. “I saw a lot of improvement in a couple different areas of our game that we've been working on, particularly in our serving and defense. That's very encouraging going forward.”

For the second straight night, Duke allowed only one service error. McCurdy, Amanda Robertson, Claire Smalzer and Nailah Waterfield all contributed in the serving game with a combined 38 errorless receptions.

N.C. State put up a fight in game one and battled to a 20-20 tie, but could not stop the Blue Devils from stringing together five straight points to win the opener 25-20. Duke hit .356 in set one thanks to 15 assists from Catanach and a 5-for-10 effort from Burling. The Blue Devils posted 19 kills and only three errors while McCurdy picked up nine digs to hold the Wolfpack to a .189 clip.

The Wolfpack turned up the defense in set two, but the Blue Devils still found a way to win and jumped ahead 2-0 after a 25-20 victory. McCurdy continued to frustrate the N.C. State attack, picking up 10 digs, while Gray posted two blocks and a pair of kills. Duke broke the game open with a 6-1 run to jump ahead 19-13, but allowed N.C. State to come right back with a 6-2 run that cut the deficit to 21-19. That would be as close as the Wolfpack got to tying the match, however, as Duke got three kills from Catanach, Burling and Dunworth to end the frame.

Game three saw the Duke offense bounce back with a .344 hitting percentage while the N.C. State attack stumbled eight kills and eight attack errors. Junior Alex Sall entered the set midway through and posted a pair of digs and three errorless service receptions while McCurdy stayed hot with eight more digs. Burling capped her night by going 4-for-5 while Cook chipped in a solo block and Kirk added a kill and a pair of digs.

The Blue Devils will now prepare for next weekend's road trip where they will face Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va., and Virginia in Charlottesville, Va., on Thursday and Friday, Oct. 14-15.

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