No. 19 San Diego Hands No. 21 Duke 3-1 Loss

Thursday, September 8

Durham, N.C.

7:00 PM

Duke University

San Diego

No. 19 San Diego Hands No. 21 Duke 3-1 Loss

9/8/2011 9:54:00 PM | Volleyball

By: Duke Sports Information

DURHAM, N.C. -- No. 19 San Diego used 10 blocks to hand No. 21 Duke its first loss in Cameron Indoor Stadium in nearly one year with a 3-1 (25-22, 25-12, 17-25, 25-16) defeat on Thursday evening.

The loss ends a 15-match home win streak for the Blue Devils (4-3), who are 133-23 on Coach K Court since the 2000 season. Duke's last loss in Cameron Indoor Stadium came on Sept. 11, 2010, to No. 12 Minnesota.

The Toreros (7-0) used relentless defense and a balanced offense run by setter Rachel Alvey to grind out 56 kills in the win. Alvey dished out 48 assists, and four San Diego hitters reached double-digit kills. Middle blocker Katie Hoekeman led the squad with a .450 hitting percentage on 20 attacks, and Carrie Baird (11), Shelby Staab (10) and Chloe Ferrari (10) all had at least 10 kills.

The loss is Duke's third straight, a streak that has not happened since the 2003 season. The Blue Devils did not lose back-to-back matches during the entire 2010 season and have lost twice in a row just four times over the past six seasons.

Senior Amanda Robertson and freshman Jeme Obeime led the Duke offense with 10 kills and eight kills, respectively, while All-America setter Kellie Catanach added 32 assists to her ACC-leading total. Obeime and Robertson combined for nine kills during Duke's 25-17 third-set victory. Defensively, sophomore libero Ali McCurdy added 17 digs to maintain her hold on the ACC digs lead, and junior middle Christiana Gray matched a season high with six blocks as San Diego hit .195 for the match.

San Diego matched Duke's strong defense throughout the match, however, racking up 10 blocks and 60 digs to hold Duke to a .110 hitting percentage. Toreros libero Kandiss Anderson covered plenty of ground and picked up 21 digs, and Amber Tatsch and Baird combined for five solo blocks.

San Diego took the first set 25-22, but not without a fight from the Blue Devils. The Toreros jumped out to a nine-point lead early in the match and doubled Duke's score at 18-9. The Blue Devils got back on track, however, and opened a 9-4 run to cut the deficit to 22-18. Duke would fight off four straight set-point opportunities for San Diego, but the Toreros eventually closed it out to take game one.

The Toreros came out swinging in the second set, however, and pulled out a 25-12 victory behind a .355 hitting percentage and five blocks. Setter Rachel Alvey directed her offense to an 11-1 run that proved to be the difference. Duke, meanwhile, hit into eight attack errors and surrendered three service aces.

Duke came out fighting in game three though, and thanks to a 5-for-10 performance from Obeime, the Blue Devils won 25-17 to force a fourth set. Duke improved its serve receive, allowing just one serving ace the entire set, and forced the Toreros into eight attack errors. San Diego nearly closed the gap with the score at 15-13, but Duke opened a 10-4 run to close out the win that featured three kills from Obeime and two from Robertson. Sophomore Chelsea Cook also contributed a pair of kills and eventually finished 4-for-7 with no errors in the match.

The fourth set was all San Diego, however, as the Toreros hit .361 with 19 kills in the final game. Ferrari went 5-for-7, and Alvey recorded 16 assists to close out San Diego's seventh straight win.

Duke stays home for its next match, a Tuesday, Sept. 13, showdown against Campbell at 7 p.m. in Cameron Indoor Stadium.

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