Duke Sweeps Virginia Sunday

Sunday, October 3

Charlottesville, Va.

3 PM

Duke University

11-4,2-2ACC

Virginia

8-6,1-3ACC

Duke

Virginia

Duke Sweeps Virginia Sunday

10/3/2021 6:17:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - The Duke volleyball team bounced back Sunday afternoon with a 3-0 sweep (25-17, 25-23, 25-20) over Virginia in Charlottesville, Va.

With the victory, the Blue Devils improve to 11-4 (2-2 ACC) as the Cavaliers dip to 8-6 (1-3 ACC).

"We are very excited to get this ACC win on the road," head coach Jolene Nagel said. "Virginia served tough and put up some great blocks today. Our team served aggressive as well and that put less pressure on our block and defense. We had a lot of people working very hard on defense today which was fun to see."

Offensively, the Blue Devils were led by senior Ade Owokoniran with nine kills, followed by sophomore Georgia Stavrinides with eight as Duke hit .220 percent as a team. Setter Alex Springate dished 25 assists while libero Mackenzie Cole and Gracie Johnson picked up 13 and 10 digs, respectively.

Despite Virginia being ranked 13th in the nation in blocks, the Blue Devils won the battle at the net with nine total team blocks. Duke was led by Stavrinides with five, including two solo, followed by Lizzie Fleming (2), Owokoniran (2), Johnson (2) and Springate (2). Duke also added five aces as Johnson led the way with two.

The first set featured four ties early before Duke started to find its rhythm and settle in to lead 20-13. The Cavaliers went on a 3-0 run to pull within four, but the Blue Devils won five of the last six points to take a 1-0 lead heading into the second. Cole and Springate found Moorea Wood for two kills late on the outside as she continued to provide a big spark off the bench.

The back-and-forth affair carried over into the second set with eight ties. Virginia seemed to hold momentum, but Duke used its block and serve to spark energy for the Blue Devils to take seven of the last 10 points. Stavrinides tallied four blocks to help slow down the Cavalier offense, limiting them to a .086 second set clip. Virginia rallied back to tie it up at 23, forcing Nagel into a timeout. After regrouping, setter Camille Nazor found Fleming and Owokoniran to seal the second set.

Duke led 22-18 in the third and what would become the final set as Fleming tallied Duke's fifth ace of the match. Springate recorded a solo block, the first of her career, to bring up match point before Stavrinides registered her seventh and eighth kill of the afternoon to help guide Duke to its 11th win of the season.

The Cavaliers were led by Brooklyn Borum with nine kills while Abby Tadder and Alana Walker each added four blocks at the net.

Duke will return to Cameron Indoor Stadium to welcome Miami and Florida State Oct. 8 and Oct. 10 for a pair of ACC matches. Both contests will be broadcast on ACCNX.

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

#GoDuke