Wake Forest Athletics
Wake Forest University
Duke
Wake Forest Falls To Duke In ACC-Opener
9/18/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 18, 2009
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Rachel Moss's double-double leads Duke to a 3-0 victory over Wake Forest in the ACC-opener for both teams on the first night of the Black & Gold Challenge.
Duke improves to 9-2 on the season and 1-0 in the conference with the victory (25-21, 25-19, 25-18) while Wake falls to 0-10 and 0-1 in the ACC with the loss.
Moss recorded match-highs of 11 kills and 12 digs. Amanda Robertson added 10 kills and hit a solid .643 for the Blue Devils while Sophia Dunworth chipped in 10 kills and three blocks. Setter Kellie Catanach dished out 37 assists and added four digs and four blocks.
For the Deacons, sophomore Kadija Fornah was two kills away from her second-straight double-double, finishing the match with eight kills and 10 digs. Fellow sophomore Carlin Salmon notched five kills and a pair of blocks while junior Lauren McIntyre added four kills and a team-best five blocks.
The Blue Devils finished the match with a .326 hitting percentage with 45 kills while the Deacons managed just 28 kills and hit .138. Duke also led the battle at the net, recording 10.5 blocks compared to 6.5 for Wake.
The first set was played pretty even early on but with Wake up 15-14, the Blue Devils would go on a 5-1 run to take a 19-15 lead. The Deacons would get as close as one at 21-20 but Duke closed the set on a 4-1 run to take a 25-21 victory.
Becci Burling and Robertson led the Blue Devils with five kills in the opening set.
The second set was a game of runs. With the score tied at 5-5, Duke runs off five of the next six points to take a 10-6 lead and forced a Wake Forest timeout. The Deacs would then come out of the stoppage on a 6-0 to take a 12-10 lead but Duke bounced-back with another 7-1 run to regain a 17-13 lead.
The teams would then trade sideouts the rest of the way as the Blue Devils took the second set 25-19.
In the third, senior Sally Fischer came to the service line for Wake with the score tied at 8-8 and lofted a pair of aces to give the Deacs a 10-8 advantage. They would extend the lead to 11-8 but the Blue Devils then went on a 7-2 run and forced a Wake Forest.
A kill by Fornah and a block by McIntyre and Andrea Beck evened the score at 16-16 but Duke would then run away with the set and the match, finishing on 9-2 run to take a 25-18 victory.
The Blue Devils avenged a loss last year in Winston-Salem, as the Deacons won a five-set thriller 17-15 in the fifth set.
In the first match of the night, Liberty rolled past Appalachian State with a 3-0 sweep. Wake will return to action Saturday afternoon as it takes on Appalachian State at 12:30. The Deacons will then close the tournament with a match against Liberty at 7:00 pm.
