TCU Rallies for Five-Set Victory over Duke

Friday, September 2

Durham, N.C.

6:30 PM

Duke University

TCU

TCU Rallies for Five-Set Victory over Duke

9/2/2016 10:39:00 PM | Volleyball

VB Highlights: TCU 3, Duke 2 Box Score (PDF)

By: Duke Sports Information

DURHAM, N.C. -- After winning the first two sets, Duke had its opportunities to put TCU away, but the Horned Frogs pulled out a determined 3-2 (25-21, 25-23, 24-26, 27-29, 13-15) victory over the Blue Devils Friday evening in Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Duke (3-2) posted a .309 hitting percentage over the first two frames before TCU (4-0) picked up its defense over the final three stanzas. The Blue Devils had their chances, building a five-point lead in the third and holding an 11-9 margin in the fifth. The Horned Frogs limited the Blue Devils to a .172 clip the remainder of the match to come away with the narrow win.

“Tonight was a tough one,” said head coach Jolene Nagel. “I think it's important that our team realizes that we should've had that. It was there for them to take. We hurt ourselves with some unforced errors tonight.”

Blue Devil freshmen Cindy Marina and Jamie Stivers both notched double-doubles. Setter Marina amassed 57 assists and added 19 digs, while outside hitter Stivers sent down 14 kills and picked up 22 digs.

Stivers was one of four Blue Devils in double-digit kills. Junior rightside hitter Anna Kropf racked up a career-high 16 tallies, followed by sophomore middle blocker Leah Meyer and senior middle blocker Jordan Tucker with 15 and 14, respectively.

Libero Sasha Karelov paced the defense with 27 digs, followed closely by Nicole Elattrache's career-high 25.

Duke used a 6-1 run to earn separation in the first, ultimately grabbing the frame, 25-21, behind five Stivers' kills. In a tight second frame, Stivers put down a kill to seal it at 25-23. Tucker and Jessi Bartholomew both had four kills in the second set to lead the Duke offense.

With Duke up 15-10 in the third, the match's momentum turned on a 6-1 TCU run. The Horned Frogs' Anna Walsh had three of her 15 kills in that span to ignite the rally. The two teams continued to trade points until the end, resulting in a 24-all stalemate. Kills from Ashleigh Martin and Sarita Mikals clinched the TCU victory.

The fourth set was equally as close as the Horned Frogs eked out a 29-27 win. Duke fought off five set points before TCU received a Mikals' kill and service ace to force a fifth set.

“I think TCU really picked up their defense in the third set,” Nagel said. “They picked up their serving, too, and really served tough the rest of the way.”

Duke led the final stanza 11-9, but TCU outscored the Blue Devils, 6-2 down the stretch. Duke made four errors over the final four points.

Mikals finished the night with a match-high 16 kills and 36 digs.

“Our team played tough defense tonight, but we have to finish when we have an opportunity to do that,” Nagel added. “Close in set three, close in set four and close in set five. This team has to learn from that and hopefully we can.”

After five consecutive home matches to open the season, Duke hits the road for the LBSU/CSF Baden Invitational Sept. 9-10 in California.

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