Sept. 23, 2011
DURHAM, N.C. – Senior Bailey Hunter and junior Monique Mead had 13 kills apiece but it was not enough as the Georgia Tech Volleyball team (7-5, 0-2 ACC) fell to Duke (7-4, 1-1), 3-0 (10-25, 22-25, 26-28) in front of 2,121 fans at Cameron Indoor Stadium on Friday night.
“We certainly didn’t start the match out well but I think we competed in sets two and three,” said head coach Tonya Johnson. “The difference in the match was that Duke executed at the end when they needed to and we didn’t.”
Hunter led the team hitting .393 on the night as she had her most kills since the season-opener against Kansas State. Mead recorded her sixth double-double of the season as she added 15 digs to go along with her 13 kills. The nation’s leader in kills has now had at least 10 in every match this season. Freshman Ali Santi notched her fourth double-double of the year as she dished out 34 assists and had 10 digs.
Sophomore Jennifer Percy added seven kills for the Yellow Jackets as they hit .151 on the night and had seven total blocks.
Duke hit .299 for the match and was led by Sophia Dunworth’s 14 kills.
The first set was all Duke as the Blue Devils raced out to a 6-1 lead and never looked back. Tech made it a 6-2 score but that was as close as it would be. Duke ran off 10 of the next 12 points to open up a 16-4 lead and forced Tech into its final timeout. The Blue Devils went on to win 25-10 as Georgia Tech hit just -.226 and had three kills. The Blue Devils, meanwhile, hit .308.
The second set was close throughout, but the Yellow Jackets never led. Duke had an early three-point lead at 8-5 but Tech came back to tie the set at nine. The teams then went back and forth for several points alternating between a tie and a two-point Duke edge. With the set even at 19 apiece, Duke reeled off three points in a row to go up 22-19 and force a Jacket timeout. When play resumed, Duke went on to win 25-22 and took a 2-0 lead at the break. The Jackets hit .351 in the set compared with Duke’s .295 and was led by six kills from Hunter and five from Mead.
Georgia Tech led for most of the third set as the Jackets took their first lead of the match at 4-3. Tech led by as many as five points at 14-9 but Duke began chipping away. The Blue Devils cut their deficit to a point at 19-18 as Tech called timeout. Following the timeout, the Jackets reeled off five of the next eight points to hold set point 24-21. Duke came back with five straight points and held match point but Tech stayed alive to tie it at 25. The jackets fought off another match point but the Blue Devils went on to win 28-26 and complete the sweep. Tech hit .224 in the third set and was led by Mead who had seven kills.
The Yellow Jackets will now make the short drive over to Winston-Salem, N.C. to face Wake Forest tomorrow at 5 p.m. Follow all of the action with live stats at RamblinWreck.com.
