Duke Rolls Georgia Tech 3-0

Friday, September 23

Durham, N.C.

7:00 PM

Duke University

Georgia Tech

Catanach, Gray & McCurdy Named All-East Region

Duke Rolls Georgia Tech 3-0

9/23/2011 9:26:00 PM | Volleyball

By: Duke Sports Information

DURHAM, N.C. - Middle blockers Sophia Dunworth and Christiana Gray combined for 21 kills and a .500 hitting percentage, and All-American setter Kellie Catanach dished out 43 assists to lead the Duke volleyball team to a 3-0 (25-10, 25-22, 28-26) sweep over Georgia Tech on Friday evening in Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Dunworth gave Georgia Tech trouble all night and led Duke in kills in every set as the Blue Devils (7-4, 1-1 ACC) won their ACC home opener on Coach K Court. Dunworth played flawlessly in the final set, connecting on 7-of-11 attacks without an error as Duke rallied from a 24-21 deficit to claim a 28-26 match-clinching victory. A senior outside hitter, Dunworth leads Duke with 110 kills this season.

"We're really excited to have our team come out and execute well, play solid defense and finish strong tonight," Duke head coach Jolene Nagel said. "It was a great team effort throughout the match. We did a good job of controlling the ball and being aggressive, and it was especially nice to see our team pull together at the end of game three. Being down 24-21, they never backed down and played to win."

Duke's offense came from everywhere as five players had at least seven kills and the team hit .299 against a Georgia Tech defense that entered the match holding opponents to a .224 hitting percentage. Gray finished 7-for-14 with no errors and Catanach, who is on pace to move into second place on Duke's all-time assists list this season, directed her hitters to 49 kills and just 14 attack errors and went 3-for-10 attacking herself.

All-ACC Libero Ali McCurdy and defensive specialist Nailah Waterfield anchored the Blue Devil defense. Georgia Tech, which has an offense built around NCAA kills leader Monique Mead, hit just .151 against the Blue Devils, including a -.226 hitting percentage in the first set. McCurdy racked up 21 digs - increasing her ACC-leading total to 222 - while Waterfield contributed nine pickups. Neither one had a receiving error as Georgia Tech managed only one service ace in 59 tries. Right side hitter Amanda Robertson was also active in the receiving game, contributing 13 errorless receptions along with a near double-double that included nine kills and 11 digs.

Duke held Mead - whose 5.44 kills per set average leads the country - to just 13 kills on a .062 hitting percentage. Georgia Tech went to her early and often, giving her a team-high 48 attacks for the game, but Duke forced her into 10 attack errors while shutting down the Georgia Tech offense. Blocking from Gray and outside hitter Megan Hendrickson played a major role in the defensive effort.

Duke dominated the first set, holding the Yellow Jackets to just three kills on the way to a 25-10 victory. The Blue Devils used a balanced attack that allowed five players to contribute multiple kills and the team to hit .308. Duke had scoring streaks of four points to open the match and six points to open a 16-4 lead midway through.

Georgia Tech got back on track in set two, but was still no match for the Blue Devils who broke a 19-19 tie with two straight points to open a narrow lead. Those two points were all the cushion Duke needed, as Hendrickson and Brittney Balser teamed up to give Duke three kills to close out the match. Balser came off the bench to knock down four kills on a team-high 10 attacks and was 5-for-13 through the first two sets. Georgia Tech also had no answer for Dunworth, who went 4-for-9 with no attack errors during that set.

The third set featured a hard-fought, back-and-forth battle that included four combined match-point opportunities from both teams. Duke came just one point away from losing the set when Georgia Tech jumped out to a 24-21 lead, but Balser and Dunworth knocked down three straight kills to tie the match at 24-24. From there, the teams traded points and Georgia Tech fought off two Duke chances to win the match. The Blue Devils could not be stopped, however, as Duke forced Mead into an attack error and Dunworth closed out the win with her seventh kill of the set.

Duke hosts Clemson on Saturday at 8 p.m. for its third ACC match of the year. The match follow the Duke football team's 3:30 p.m. game against Tulane and will cost no charge for admission.

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