Middles Tucker & Meyer Guide Duke Past UMKC

Friday, September 4

Lawrence, Kan.

10:30 AM

Duke University

UMKC

Middles Tucker & Meyer Guide Duke Past UMKC

9/4/2015 4:54:00 PM | Volleyball

By: Duke Sports Information

LAWRENCE, Kan. – Middle blockers Jordan Tucker and Leah Meyer guided the Duke volleyball team to a 3-0 (25-20-, 25-21, 25-22) victory over UMKC at the Kansas Invitational Friday morning at the Horejsi Family Athletic Center.

A native of Prairie Village, Kan., Tucker led all players with a season-high 12 kills. Meyer turned in the first double-digit kill performance of her young career, totaling 10 on 18 attempts. After hitting .444 in Friday morning's contest, Meyer leads the team with a .429 hitting percentage.

Freshman outside hitter Jessi Bartholomew added a career-high six kills, while sophomores Anna Kropf and Cadie Bates combined for 13. Bates also had a strong defensive match, totaling a career-high 12 digs to go along with a pair of blocks.

Bates was one of three Blue Devils to pick up double-digit digs, helping Duke limit UMKC to .189 hitting. Sophomore Nicole Elattrache added 11 while junior Sasha Karelov chipped in with 10.

“I like the way our team came out and played together and played hard,” said head coach Jolene Nagel. “UMKC is a very tough, scrappy team. They're a good ball control team and their offense does a lot of different things. We had to really make sure we knew where our hitters were and also stay disciplined on our block and on defense.”

Aided by seven UMKC errors, Duke came away with the 25-20 decision in the opening frame. The Blue Devils followed that performance with a 25-21 second-set victory. Meyer chipped in five of her 10 kills in the second frame, while Tucker added four. The Blue Devils posted a .342 hitting percentage and knocked down 17 kills en route to the 2-0 advantage.

Duke sealed the straight-set victory with a 25-22 final frame. Tucker put down five kills to lead the way as the Blue Devils totaled 19 kills during the final stanza.

The 'Roos did not have a player reach double-digit kills, receiving a team-high eight from Skyler Muff. Taryn Miller led all player with 15 digs.

Duke returns to action Friday evening, taking on host Kansas at 8 p.m. (EDT) on ESPN3.

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