Duke Falls at No. 2 Pitt

Friday, October 1

Pittsburgh, Pa.

7 PM

Duke University

10-4,1-2ACC

Pitt

14-0,4-0ACC

Duke

Pittsburgh

10/1/2021 9:02:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

PITTSBURGH, Pa. - The Duke volleyball team dropped a 3-0 match (20-25, 19-25, 20-25) on the road at undefeated No. 2 Pitt Friday evening in Pittsburgh, Pa.

With the setback, the Blue Devils dip to 10-4 (1-2 ACC) as the Panthers retain their flawless 14-0 (4-0 ACC) record.

The Blue Devils were led by senior Ade Owokoniran with nine kills while junior Gracie Johnson added eight. Junior Moorea Wood provided a big spark off the bench as she ended with seven kills to hit .500 percent. Setters Alex Springate and Sydney Yap split time for Duke while defensively, Duke out-blocked the Panthers as Georgia Stavrinides tallied three, including one solo, to go along with three additional solo blocks from Lily Cooper, Lizzie Fleming and Owokoniran. As a team, Duke hit .202 for the match.

Pitt is ranked in the top five in seven different ACC stat categories and tonight was no exception as it hit .354 percent with 49 kills and 47 assists. The Panthers were led by two-time ACC Player of the Year Kayla Lund with 14 kills to hit .440 percent.

The Panthers came out hot to hit an impressive .455 percent with 19 kills and just four errors and limited the Blue Devils to a .222 clip. All tied up at nine, the Panthers used several key runs to pull ahead. The Blue Devils held off two Panthers' match points as Springate and Yap found Stavrinides and Johnson, but couldn't hold on to take the set.

Wood provided a big spark off the bench for the Blue Devils as she and Owokoniran each tallied three kills in the second set. Stavrinides and Wood teamed up to close a strong Duke block to help slow down the Panthers offensively, but Pitt used five aces to put Duke on its heels and take a 2-0 lead heading into the third set.

Duke trailed 12-5 to open the third set. Owokoniran tallied her ninth kill of the match before Fleming and Johnson teamed up for their second blocks of the match to help Duke pull within three (16-13). Johnson added her eighth kill from setter Camille Nazor (24-20) but Lund tallied her 14th kill of the match to give Pitt the victory.

In addition to Lund, Chinaza Ndee added a .450 clip with 10 kills while setters Kylee Levers and Lexis Akeo dished 24 and 22 assists, respectively.

Duke will travel to Charlottesville, Va., to take on Virginia Sunday at 3 p.m., on ACC Network.

For more information on Duke volleyball, follow the Blue Devils on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram by searching for "DukeVB".

#GoDuke