MATCH STATS
- Duke def. N.C. State (RV) 3-2 (24-26, 25-14, 25-15, 24-26, 15-8)
- Duke moves to 18-12, 10-9 ACC; N.C. State falls to 19-11, 14-5 ACC
- Durham, North Carolina
- Attendance: 1,251
- Box Score
DURHAM, N.C. – Senior outside hitter Julia Brown put down a match-high 19 kills, but it was not enough to get N.C. State back on the winning track, as the Wolfpack suffered its third straight loss, falling to Duke in five sets on Wednesday.
Key in the victory were 22.5 team blocks for the Blue Devils, including a match-high 14 by senior middle blocker Anna Kropf. Three other players turned in eight or more stuffs: sophomore outside Samantha Amos (9), junior outside Jessi Bartholomew (8) and freshman middle Summer Brown (8). Four Blue Devil players downed 12 or more kills in the victory: freshman outside Payton Schwantz (14), senior outside Cadie Bates (14), Amos (14) and Bartholomew (12). Senior libero Nicole Elattrache pulled up a match-best 28 digs, followed by Bates (22) and two other double-digit efforts.
Brown was the lone Wolfpack player with double-digit kills, followed by senior middle Kaitlyn Kearney (8) and freshman opposite Melissa Evans (6). Kearney added nine blocks and Brown rounded out a double-double with 15 digs. Senior libero Emily Harris notched 22 digs to lead a group of four N.C. State players with double-digit dig tallies.
Duke outhit N.C. State .183 to .031, outblocked the Wolfpack 22.5 to 15, outserved them 4-2 in aces and accounted for 17 more kills (63-46) en route to the win.
The decisive fifth set saw the Blue Devils lead from the start, racing ahead 5-2 with help from three blocks, two by Kropf. N.C. State cut the margin to one three times, last at 8-7, but after that, it was nearly all Duke. A 5-0 run, including three Kropf stuffs and a Brown kill, pushed the lead to 13-7. A Bree Bailey kill slowed the Blue Devils momentarily, but a service error and a final stuff by Kropf and Amos caped the 15-8 win and the match.
Duke led 18-15 in Set 1 only to be outscored 11-6 down the stretch in a 26-24 loss. A 5-0 run, with two kills and a block by Brown, put N.C. State on top 20-18. Duke rallied to go up 24-22, with four kills and an ace. The Wolfpack closed out the comeback win with a 4-0 run, capped by a Blue Devil hitting miscue.
Duke wasted no time establishing a dominating lead in Set 2, cruising to an 18-6 advantage, including six blocks and five N.C. State hitting errors. The Wolfpack scored five of the next six to make it 19-11, but couldn’t hold off a final 6-3 Blue Devil run.
N.C. State grabbed a 5-1 lead out of the intermission and led 8-5 before Duke put together a 13-3 run to put the set out of reach. Four Wolfpack errors, two kills and an ace by Brown and a pair of Bates putaways made it 18-11 Blue Devils. A kill and a block by Julia Brown had N.C. State within five at 20-15, but five kills, two each by Bartholomew and Bates, wrapped up the Duke victory.
After a tie at 9 in Set 4, Duke pulled away to boast a 15-11 lead at the media timeout. Two blocks and a kill by Kropf and two Amos putaways gave the Blue Devils the four-point edge. Bartholomew added two kills and a block to push Duke ahead 20-15. N.C. State called timeout and countered with nine of the next 12 points to earn a set-point try at 24-23. Five Duke miscues and three kills by Julia Brown put the Wolfpack on the hill. A Schwantz kill saved the first attempt, but kills by Teni Sopitan and Julia Brown gave N.C. State the 26-24 and sent the match to a decisive fifth set.
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