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7 PM
Volleyball
at Georgia Tech
Saturday, September 11
Ann Arbor, Mich.
2:00 PM
Duke University
6-2,0-0ACC
0
vs
3
North Carolina
7-0,0-0ACC
1
2
3
F
Duke
22
22
21
0
North Carolina
25
25
25
3
Duke Falls to UNC, Springate Reaches 1,000 Assists
9/11/2021 3:51:00 PM | Volleyball
ANN ARBOR, MICH. - The Duke volleyball team fell to North Carolina, 3-0 (22-25, 22-25, 21-25) Saturday afternoon in Ann Arbor, Mich.
With the loss, the Blue Devils fall to 6-2 overall as the Tar Heels improve to 7-0. The Tar Heels tallied 12 blocks and registered a .295 hitting percentage to help win the match.
Senior setter Alex Springate reached the 1,000-assist plateau today and now has 1,001 career assists. She currently ranks 15th on Duke's career charts.
Offensively, Duke was led by senior Ade Owokoniran with 15 kills and just three errors to hit .480 percent and also added two blocks. Springate dished 27 assists while Lizzie Fleming tallied four blocks.
Duke took an early lead to open the first set and held an 18-15 advantage over the Tar Heels. North Carolina went on to win six of the next seven points to take a two-point edge (21-19). Duke went on its own 3-0 run with help from a Lily Cooper kill and a Fleming and Georgia Stavrinides block to regain the lead (22-21), but it wasn't enough to take the set.
Similar to the first, the second set was a back-and-forth battle between the two squads that featured 13 tied scores. All even at 17, the Tar Heels used their block and aces to their advantage to help push them to a 2-0 lead. Both teams produced solid hitting percentages in the second as North Carolina tallied 16 kills and just one error to hit .469 to Duke's .324 percent.
The Tar Heels put the Blue Devils on their heels early in the third set as they led 15-7 at the midway point of the stanza. Nagel's squad called their second timeout of the set, trailing 20-14. That helped spur a 4-0 run to close the gap to two (20-18). Owokoniran put together consecutive kills before Gracie Johnson's ace. After North Carolina's timeout, Springate found her 26th assist as she connected with Owokoniran for her 15th kill (21-19), but Duke was unable to hold off North Carolina.
The Tar Heels were led by Nia Robinson with 13 kills while setter Meghan Neelon dished 23 assists.
Duke will close out its non-conference slate next weekend with its final home tournament Sept. 17-18. The Blue Devils welcome Cornell, LIU and NC Central to Cameron Indoor Stadium for the Duke Classic.
For more information on Duke volleyball, follow the Blue Devils on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram by searching for "DukeVB".
#GoDuke
Team Stats
Duke
UNC
Kills
37
43
Errors
20
15
Attempts
87
95
Hitting %
.195
.295
Points
44
58
Assists
34
35
Aces
2
7
Blocks
5
8
Game Leaders
Kills
15
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Kills
11
Aces
1
Blocks
0
Kills
4
Aces
0
Blocks
1
Kills
3
Aces
0
Blocks
4
Players Mentioned
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