Match Stats
- #17 Florida St. def. Duke 3-1 (20-25, 25-16, 25-23, 25-20)
- Florida State moves to 21-5 (14-3 ACC); Duke falls to 20-7 (14-3 ACC)
- Cameron Indoor Arena, Durham, North Carolina
- Attendance: 1,411
The Duke Blue Devils have been one of the surprising teams in the country this season, entering the night with just 2 losses in ACC play, but they face the toughest portion of the schedule over the last 3 weeks of the season, and their momentum was halted on Friday night with a 3-1 loss at the hands of #17 Florida State. That snapped a 6 game Duke winning streak.
“It was a great win tonight,” said Florida State head coach Chris Poole. “We overcame a lot of adversity and I am super proud of the team. We had a lot of different players step up and that was the difference in the match. Duke is a very good team and they run a great offense. We need to take this win and learn from it as we prepare for Sunday.”
Neither team played all that well offensively, with Florida State hitting just .206 on the match even in the win, but the difference was Florida State’s defensive play and Duke’s struggles at the service line.
For Florida State, Melanie Keil had 9 blocks (8 assists, 1 solo) as part of a 10-block effort for the team; while Cecilie Woie tied her season high with 29 digs.
Duke’s offense ran through their middle blockers on Friday, who responded in a big way. Leah Meyer had a career high 21 kills on a .548 average, and Jordan Tucker had 13 kills on a .314 average. But while those 2 combined for just 6 errors, the rest of the team combined for 20 on attacks, plus another 8 from the service line.
“We had a little bit more we were capable of doing that we just didn’t do tonight. We had a lot of errors that we normally don’t have,” Duke head coach Jolene Nagel said. “Tonight we just had too many service errors and hitting errors. We didn’t block enough balls. We didn’t give ourselves a chance even though we were somewhat close.”
After struggling in the first set, which they gave up to Duke, Florida State found and built their rhythm throughout the game, finishing with a .410 hitting percentage in the 4th-and-final set.
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Courtesy Florida State Athletics:
DURHAM, N.C. – Katie Horton recorded her fourth straight double-double (18 kills / 18 digs), Hailey Luke added 27 assists and Melanie Keil emerged with nine total blocks as 17th-ranked Florida State earned four-set victory at Duke by scores of 20-25, 25-16, 25-23 and 25-20 in ACC volleyball action on Friday evening. The win moves Florida State (21-5, 14-3 ACC) into second place in the ACC standings behind North Carolina.
Horton enjoyed her 11th double-double of the season and 23rd of her career as she moved to within 11 digs of reaching 1,000 in her career. She was joined among offensive leaders by Mara Green, Natasha Calkins and Milica Kubura, all who finished with eight strikes. Florida State finished off its 10th road win of the season with 55 team kills.
Keil led the way for a front row that tallied 18 assisted blocks as Florida State held the Blue Devils (20-7, 14-3 ACC) to a .168 attack percentage. She was joined up front with multiple blocks by Kubura (five), Calkins (two) and Horton (two).
The back row combination of Cecilie Woie and Madison Sullivan, who finished with 29 and 14 digs, respectively, also played a key role in limiting the Duke offense. Both Woie and Sullivan enjoyed career-highs in digs and along with Horton’s 18, the Seminoles finished with an 88-86 advantage.
Three kills by Horton allowed Florida State to grab a 9-3 lead in the fourth set. However, Duke charged back with Jordan Tucker in serve and three kills from Leah Meyer to pull even at 10.
Horton drove home four kills with Sullivan in serve to push the Seminoles in front 16-12. The lead remained at four until a series of strikes by Meyer, Cindy Marina and Jessi Bartholomew pulled Duke to within one, 21-20. Florida State responded, under the direction of Luke, with kills from Green and Brianne Burkert to wrap up the win.
Kubura was one of seven Seminoles to record a kill in the first 22 points of the third set as the two teams battled to an 11-all deadlock following a slam by Stasa Miljevic. Florida State scored seven of the next nine points, highlighted by two kills by Calkins, to move in front 18-13.
The Blue Devils used an 8-3 rally, highlighted by strikes from Jordan Tucker and Leah Meyer, to eventually pull even at 21. Three points from Horton, including two kills and an assisted block along with Green, helped Florida State grab the third set 25-23.
“It was a great win tonight,” said head coach Chris Poole. “We overcame a lot of adversity and I am super proud of the team. We had a lot of different players step up and that was the difference in the match. Duke is a very good team and they run a great offense. We need to take this win and learn from it as we prepare for Sunday.”
Consecutive kills by Green, Horton, Keil and Burkert got the offense in sync as the Seminoles jumped out to a 10-4 lead in the second frame. Green and Kubura combined for one kill and an assisted block to help Florida State stretch its lead to 16-7, after a service ace by Luke.
Luke was instrumental in adding to the Seminole lead as she assisted on kills by Green and Keil to make for a 21-11 contest. Two kills from Duke’s Jordan Tucker were offset by strikes by Green and Kubura as Florida State completed the nine-point win.
Behind the service game of Chloe DiPasquale the Blue Devils established a 7-1 advantage in the opening set. An assisted block by the combination of Kubura and Keil ignited Florida State, who went on an 8-2 run to pull within one, 10-9.
Duke stretched the lead to five, 17-12, following kills from Bartholomew and Meyer, forcing the second Seminole timeout. Horton drove home two kills while Kubura, Calkins and Green added one each, but Florida State fell short as Duke posted the five-point win.
The Seminoles remain in North Carolina and will head to Winston-Salem to clash with Wake Forest at 1 p.m. for the 40th time in program history. With a 32-7 advantage in the series, Florida State has emerged victorious in nine of its last 10 head-to-meetings against the Demon Deacons.
For more information visit Facebook (Florida State Seminoles Volleyball), Twitter (FSU_Volleyball) and Instagram (FSUvolleyball).
Courtesy Duke Athletics:
DURHAM, N.C. – Duke sophomore middle blocker Leah Meyer tallied a career-high 21 kills but Duke could not overcome costly errors in a 3-1 (25-20, 16-25, 23-25, 20-25) setback to No. 17 Florida State Friday evening in Cameron Indoor Stadium. The loss was just the Blue Devils’ third in ACC play and snapped Duke’s six match win streak.
Duke (20-7, 14-3 ACC) held the Florida State (21-5, 14-3 ACC) offense, which entered the match among the top in the ACC in hitting percentage, to a .206 clip for the match and totaled three more kills than the Seminoles, but the Blue Devils suffered 26 attack and eight service errors in the defeat. FSU also outblocked Duke, 10-5, behind nine stops from Melanie Keil.
“We had a little bit more we were capable of doing that we just didn’t do tonight. We had a lot of errors that we normally don’t have. Tonight we just had too many service errors and hitting errors. We didn’t block enough balls. We didn’t give ourselves a chance even though we were somewhat close.”
Meyer paced the Duke offense with a stellar performance. She hammered at least four kills in all four frames, dropping six in both the first and fourth stanzas. Meyer notched her career-best 21 kills on 31 attempts, committing just four errors, to register a scalding .548 hitting percentage for the match.
“She’s done a tremendous job getting better this season,” Nagel said. “That was helpful for us to stay in the match and we need her to continue to do that. She’s made some great strides in her sophomore year.”
Fellow middle Jordan Tucker was also solid, contributing 13 kills on a .314 clip to notch her 21st double-digit kill performance of the 2016 campaign.
Led by 26 kills from libero Sasha Karelov, Duke’s back row featured four players with 10 or more digs. Defensive specialists Nicole Elattrache (15) and Kelli Kalinoski (11) joined setter Cindy Marina (12) in that distinction. Marina also dished out 46 assists to pick up her 16th double-double.
Katie Horton, the only Seminole to surpass 10 kills in the match, led FSU with 18 kills on 51 attempts. She also contributed 18 digs, good for the double-double.
Duke stormed out to a 7-1 start in set one, taking the stanza 25-20. FSU had its lowest hitting percentage of any set in the match in the first, posting a .086 mark with nine kills and six attack errors. Meyer had six kills on her own, including the final two points of the frame.
The Blue Devils fell behind early in the second and never fully recovered, falling 25-16. Duke hit .070 in the frame and could not find a consistent rhythm.
The third set saw 12 ties and six lead changes before Florida State pulled away, 25-23. Down 19-13, Duke clawed its way back with an 8-2 stretch, culminating in a Meyer solo block to tie it at 21-all. FSU answered with three straight points on a kill, block, and Duke attack error to establish set point. Duke fought off two set points prior to Brianne Burkert’s set-clinching kill.
Duke stumbled to start the fourth, trailing 6-1 early. The Blue Devils once again rallied, knotting the score at 10 on an FSU miscue. Florida State countered and built a four-point margin, 18-14. Duke pulled with a point at 21-20 following a Jessi Bartholomew kill, but the Seminoles had the answer and finished the match on a 4-0 run.
Duke takes on Miami at 1 p.m., Sunday, Nov. 20 in its final home match of the regular season. ACC Network is set to broadcast the match live from Cameron Indoor Stadium.
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