Offense Shines as Duke Dispatches Clemson, 3-1

Sunday, November 3

Durham, N.C.

1 PM

Duke University

9-14,5-7ACC

Clemson

8-15,0-12ACC

Clemson

Duke

Photo by: Duke Athletics

Offense Shines as Duke Dispatches Clemson, 3-1

11/3/2024 3:37:00 PM | Volleyball

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DURHAM, N.C. –Three Blue Devils registered double-digit kills to lead Duke to a 3-1 (25-19, 25-21, 22-25, 25-11) victory over Clemson in ACC volleyball action Sunday afternoon inside Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Junior Kerry Keefe led Duke (9-14, 5-7) offensively with 17 kills while freshman Taylor Williams had 16. Senior Rachel Richardson bolstered the offense with 15. Graduate student Grace Penn dished out 46 assists and picked up 14 digs. Freshman libero Malinh Godschall finished her afternoon with 23 digs and seven assists.

How it Happened

The opening set was back and forth, featuring seven ties and three lead changes. The Blue Devils, led by Rachel Richardson's five kills, hit an impressive .457 to rally from 13-9 deficit to the 25-19 victory.
Trailing 13-9 midway through the set, Duke scored 10 of the next 11 points to break open a 19-14 advantage. Kerry Keefe and Richardson both had two kills apiece in the run, while the Blue Devil defense held the Tigers to nine kills overall in the set.
Duke carried its momentum into the second set, jumping out to a 3-0 lead. Clemson scored three unanswered, but it was all Blue Devils as they outscored the Tigers 15-5 for an15-8 advantage.
Clemson pulled within three at 24-21, but Taylor Williams fired in a kill on the ensuing serve to give Duke the 2-0 lead in the match. The Blue Devils' defense was the story again, holding the Tigers to nine kills again and a .071 hitting percentage. Duke also had three blocks in the set.
The Tigers got a set back in the third to bring the match score at 2-1. Duke led 11-8 before Clemson put together a 14-4 run for a 22-15 lead. Clemson found its offensive rhythm in the third set, firing 14 kills while making just four errors. Duke hit .311 in the set, but the spurt by the Tigers was too much to overcome.
Duke refused to go to a fifth set for a seventh time, racing out to a 13-5 lead behind a balanced offensive effort between Richardson, Ngozi Iloh and Williams. The Blue Devils never looked back, extending their advantage to 22-8 before Iloh ended the match with her ninth kill of the day for the 25-11 win.
The Blue Devils hit .375 for the afternoon, knocking down 66 kills and making just 12 attack errors. Iloh had a team-best four block assists. Three different Blue Devils hit over .400 for the match.
Defensively, Duke forced Clemson (8-15, 0-12) into 20 attack errors and just a .134 clip. Azyah Dailey led the Tigers with 13 kills.

Notes

Duke has now won 11 of the last 12 matches against the Tigers, including five consecutive victories in the series.
The Blue Devils posted a season-best hitting percentage of .375.
Freshman Taylor Williams equaled her season-high with 16 kills.
Grace Penn's 45 assists are the third most for the graduate student in four-set matches this season. She is 28 shy of eclipsing 700 for the season.
Kerry Keefe hit a season-high .484 for the match – her third time this season to break the .400 mark.
Clemson's .134 hitting percentage is the second lowest by a Duke opponent this season.

Quotes
Jolene Nagel on the win

"I know we've had a few losses against some really good teams (recently), but the one thing that I've been really happy to see is the continual growth and development of our team, and I feel like that was evident this weekend."

Jolene Nagel on Duke's upcoming slate of games

"It's a tough league and we now hit the road for the next two weeks, so I think it's about taking care of ourselves, getting some rest and getting ready to go to SMU and Pitt this weekend. They feel great, but they also know that we have some really tough matches moving forward, but I love that we continue to grow and develop."

Up Next

Duke begins a four-match road stretch next week, traveling to No. 12 SMU Nov. 8 before flying to No. 1 Pittsburgh for a Nov. 10 match. Friday's match starts at 8 p.m. (ET) and Sunday's first serve is at 1 p.m.

To stay up to date with Blue Devils volleyball, follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook by searching "DukeVB".

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