Volleyball Falls To No. 25 Duke

Sunday, November 9

Syracuse, NY

1 pm

Syracuse University

8-17, 1-12ACC

Duke

18-6, 10-3ACC

Team	1	2	3	Final F
Duke	25	25	25	3
Syracuse	16	21	19	0

11/9/2014 3:50:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

Syracuse’s defensive effort wasn’t enough to stop the top offense in the conference

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The Orange was presented with perhaps its toughest challenge yet this season in its 3-0 loss to No. 25 Duke on Sunday afternoon in the Women's Building. The Blue Devils (18-6, 10-3 ACC) entered the weekend as the conference's best statistical team in hitting percentage, kills, assists and digs and it proved it was nothing short of a well-oiled machine against the Orange (8-17, 1-12 ACC).

A Look At The Numbers

Lindsay McCabe and Leah Levert led the way for the Orange attack in the middle. McCabe finished the match with a team-high nine kills with a .278 hitting percentage and Levert five kills to her credit, posting a .417 success rate. The two also led 'Cuse with three block assists each.

Silvi Uattara and Stacey Smith continued to contribute on both sides of the ball. Uattara found the floor on six of her swings while Smith matched her with six kills of her own. Uattara recorded a team-best nine digs on the day with a block assist and Smith finished with two block assists.

Monika Salkute tallied five kills from the outside and was in on two blocks as well.

Gosia Wlaszczuk and Lucie Guttakovskaia split time at setter combining for 30 assists with Wlaszczuk connecting with hitters on 18 of them. The duo contributed four kills each and Guttakovskaia also finished with a block assist and an ace to her credit.

Continuing to develop, Belle Sand earned the nod again as the starting libero, logging eight digs in the match.

Too Hot To Handle

The Blue Devils bounced back from two five-set upsets and displayed why they are one of the best teams in the country. From digging to finishing on the attack, Duke was firing on all cylinders.

Duke finished with four players all finishing with double-digit kills and Jordan Tucker was a force in the middle, contributing in five of Duke's six blocks.

The best setter in the conference, Kelsey Williams, was the difference as the general consensus by Coach Yelin and the players was that Duke's offense was fast. Williams' play made it difficult for the 'Cuse blockers to find who the hitter was going to be and with four hitters on their game, Duke had the advantage.

Williams found hitters on 49-of-54 kills by the Blue Devils. The quick sets on target led to Duke's impressive .339 hitting percentage overall, finishing with success rates .450 or higher in two of the three sets. The Blue Devils struggled with Syracuse's defense in the second set, hitting just .146.

Breaking Down the Match

Throughout the contest, every time Syracuse began to gain the tiniest bit of momentum, Duke had an answer. The Blue Devils never gave into the Orange executing from beginning to end.

The first set began close. However, leading the Orange 10-8, Duke busted out a 4-0 run to give itself a cushion it never gave up. With the set slipping away, Syracuse strung together four straight points to pull within three. Now trailing 19-16, the threatened Blue Devils surged again with six straight points to put Syracuse away in the first, 25-16.

In the second set 'Cuse found itself in a similar situation. Duke threatening to put the set away with a 19-12 lead, the Orange fought its way to within three with the Blue Devils leading, 20-17. Four of the next five points fell in favor of Duke presenting set point, 24-18. As it always does, the Orange refused to go down without a fight, winning the next three points to cut the lead to three again but Tucker was there on the next volley to put away the set, 25-21.

The third set was very similar to the first as Duke took an 11-8 lead and was able to string together a 6-3 run to give it the cushion it needed to put away the Orange. 'Cuse made a final push to win the third, cutting the lead to five with a 22-18 score but the Blue Devils won three of the next four points to take the set, 25-19 and the match, 3-0.