Duke Travels to Florida State, Miami

DURHAM – The Duke volleyball team will hit the road for a pair of matches at Florida State and Miami. The Blue Devils will take on the Seminoles Friday at 6:30 p.m., before a 1 p.m., match against the Hurricanes Sunday. Both contests will be broadcast on ACCNX.

LAST TIME OUT

Duke went 1-1 over the weekend at home. The Blue Devils dropped a 3-0 match against No. 10 Pitt before capturing a 3-1 victory over Virginia. Senior Gracie Johnson spearheaded Duke’s offense with 30 kills while freshman outside hitter Kerry Keefe added 18 to hit .325 percent over three matches. Georgia Stavrinides tallid a team-leading nine blocks, while Rylie Kadel and Keefe added seven and six, respectively.

A CLOSER LOOK AT THE SERIES

FLORIDA STATE

Duke is 37-24 all-time against Florida State despite the Seminoles capturing 10 of the last 11 matchups. The last time the Blue Devils won in Tallahassee was in 2008.

MIAMI

Duke leads the all-time series 17-12 but have lost the last three meetings. The last time the Blue Devils won in Coral Gables was in 2015.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS

FLORIDA STATE

Florida State enters Friday’s match coming off a 3-2 victory over Miami and are 11-5 (3-2 ACC) this season. Offensively, the Seminoles feature four with 100 or more kills and are led by Audrey Koenig with 158 and a .230 hitting percentage. Andjelija Draskovic, Florida State’s main setter, owns 357 assists and 110 digs to rank third on the team in digs. At the net, the Seminoles own 122.0 total blocks and are led by Emily Ryan (57) and Emma Clothier (40). As a team, Chris Poole’s squad is hitting .260 percent to rank third in the conference and are fourth in total kills (762).

MIAMI

Miami is 9-7 overall and 2-3 in ACC action after dropping a five-set match to Florida State Wednesday evening. Offensively, Miami is led by Angela Grieve with 167 kills for 3.4 kills per set and Peyman Yardimci with 147 kills and a .268 hitting percentage. As a team, the Hurricanes are hitting .238 percent while their opponents are playing to a .210 clip. Setter Savannah Vach has dished 593 total dimes this season for 10.2 assists per set and is second on the team with 14 aces. Vach also owns 133 digs and 21.5 blocks. As a team, Miami has tallied 144.5 total blocks to rank seventh in the ACC. Abby Casiano and Janice Leao are tabbed third and fourth, respectively, in the ACC in hitting percentage this season with .387 and .355.

WELCOME TO THE BLOCK PARTY

Duke’s block has been a point of emphasis early in the season and has been spearheaded by middle blockers Rylie Kadel and Lizzie Fleming. As a team, the Blue Devils own 138.0 total team blocks to rank 62nd nationally and sixth in the conference with 2.34 blocks/set. Kadel’s numbers have been quite impressive midway through the season as she has 66.0 blocks to her name with 8 solo and 58 assisted. To date, she is 69th nationally and fifth in the ACC with 1.18 blocks/set. This season, she has tallied four or more total blocks in nine contests, including a career-high eight at Syracuse (9/23/22), and has 11 matches with four or more blocks in her young career. Fleming (52.0), Georgia Stavrinides (37.0) and Devon Chang (24.0) round out Duke’s solid presence at the net. Fleming owns 48 contests with four or more blocks.

KEEPING UP WITH KERRY

Freshman outside hitter Kerry Keefe has emerged as one of Duke’s offensive threats as of late. While she was providing a spark off the bench, she has now transitioned into a starting role on the right side. In Duke’s victory over Virginia (10/2), Keefe tallied a career-high 14 kills and just three errors on 27 swings to play to an impressive .407 clip. In her first career start against Boston College (9/25), she collected a career-high seven blocks (one solo, six assisted). So far this fall, she owns 39 kills for a .297 hitting percentage and 21 blocks in 19 sets of action.

NEXT MATCH

Duke will host No. 10 Georgia Tech (Oct. 14) and Clemson (Oct. 16) in Cameron Indoor Stadium. Both matches will be broadcast on ACCNX.

For more information on Duke volleyball, follow the Blue Devils on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram by searching for “https://goduke.com/news/2022/10/6/DukeVB”.  

#GoDuke