Duke Sweeps Col. of Charleston, Remains Undefeated

Saturday, September 4

Durham, N.C.

2:30 PM

Duke University

6-0,0-0ACC

College of Charleston

4-3,0-0CAA

Col. of Charleston

Duke

Duke Sweeps Col. of Charleston, Remains Undefeated

9/4/2021 5:42:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score Photo Gallery

DURHAM – The Duke volleyball team closed out the Duke Invitational Saturday with a 3-0 sweep (25-17, 25-22, 25-9) over College of Charleston in Cameron Indoor Stadium. With the victory, the Blue Devils improve to 6-0, their best start since 2002.

"This weekend was an opportunity to play teams that we don't see in the ACC," head coach Jolene Nagel said. "You're not scheduling just for wins … you're scheduling to play against teams who will do well in their own conferences. [I'm] really proud of my team this weekend. This team is on a mission. A lot of our seniors have played since they were freshmen, as well as our juniors, so they have a lot of experience on the court. Not only are they juniors and seniors, but they're leaders. The whole team has worked really hard in their culture, their cohesiveness and their commitment."

As a team, Duke registered a season-best hitting percentage (.429) with just eight attack errors and was led by junior Gracie Johnson and rookie Rachel Richardson with 11 and 10 kills, respectively. Johnson also led the team on the defensive end with 12 digs, two blocks and four aces to help limit the Cougars to just a .110 clip. Richardson hit a whopping .692 percent as setter Alex Springate dished 31 assists as she found 10 different Blue Devils.

Duke got off to a hot start, hitting .429 in the first set as the Blue Devils' offense disrupted the Cougars on both sides of the ball.

Duke's serve helped push them to a second-set victory with Johnson registering four aces during key moments of the match. All tied at 15, College of Charleston went on a 4-0 run to take a 19-15 lead, forcing Nagel into her first timeout of the set. Johnson's back-to-back aces helped spearhead a 7-0 Duke run to lead 23-19. The Cougars attempted to respond, but senior Lily Cooper's solo block to end the set gave Duke a 2-0 lead heading into the third.

Duke absolutely dominated in the third, converting on 17 of its 21 attack attempts with zero errors to hit a stellar .810 percent. Setter Camille Nazor stepped in and dished seven assists as Duke was firing on all cylinders to put the Cougars on their heels with a negative hitting percentage.

College of Charleston was led by Gabi Bailey with eight kills.

Mackenzie Cole, Lizzie Fleming and Springate were named to the Duke Invitational All-Tournament team alongside Taylor Nomanson (Miami [OH]), Sophie Riermersma (Miami [OH]), Gabi Bailey (Col. Of Charleston) and Essence Bell (Howard).

The Blue Devils will travel to the state of Michigan for the Big Ten/ACC Challenge Sept. 10-11. Duke will take on No. 23 Michigan Friday before Michigan State Saturday.

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

#GoDuke