Duke kept rolling Tuesday night in its home opener, taking down Charleston Southern in straight sets, 3-0, inside Cameron Indoor Stadium.
The Blue Devils improved to 5-1 and earned their third sweep of the season, while head coach Ahen Kim picked up his first home win. Duke had too much firepower for Charleston Southern (4-3), leaning on a huge night from Ashby Zubchevich, who matched her career high with 21 kills. Nataly Moravec stayed hot as well, finishing with 15 kills.
Duke hit .318 as a team and controlled the match at the net and on defense. Zoe Gillen-Malveaux was especially efficient, putting down eight kills while hitting .500.
Zubchevich turned in her 21-kill performance at a .444 clip. Nikki Quinn once again ran the offense with precision, collecting 39 assists and extending her streak of 34 or more assists in every match this season.
The Blue Devils also won the blocking battle 7-5, with Breonna Goss leading the way with four blocks. Moravec and Gillen-Malveaux each added three.
On the back row, Moravec, Mailinh Godschall and Aly Donoghue each finished with 13 digs, and that total marked career highs for Donoghue and Moravec. Duke held Charleston Southern to .159 hitting.
The first set was Duke’s roughest offensive stretch of the night, but the Blue Devils still found a way to take control. After falling behind 7-3 early, Duke answered with four straight points to tie it up, then moved ahead 15-11 at the technical timeout.
Charleston Southern clawed back from a 17-13 deficit to level the set at 18-18, but Duke responded and never trailed again, closing out a 25-21 win. Zubchevich had seven kills in the frame as Duke hit .233.
Set 2 was the tightest of the night. The teams traded points throughout, and Duke carried only a one-point edge, 15-14, into the technical timeout.
The Blue Devils were up 19-18 before stretching it to 23-20, then had to fend off a late push from the Buccaneers, who got within 24-23. Gillen-Malveaux finished the set with the kill, and Zubchevich added seven more kills in the frame.
Duke’s best volleyball came in the third set, when it hit .467 and pulled away at the right time. After the set was tied 9-9, the Blue Devils won seven of the next nine points to build a 16-11 lead.
Charleston Southern cut it to 20-17 late, but Duke held on and closed things out. Moravec and Goss teamed up for the final block to seal the first home victory of the season.
Zubchevich and Moravec combined for 13 kills with just one error in the set.
By the end of the night, Duke had a 51-33 edge in kills and a 53-39 advantage in digs. The Blue Devils also finished with 49 assists, with Quinn accounting for 39 of them. Each team had four service aces, and Godschall led Duke with two.
Duke stays at home this weekend, hosting Marshall on Friday and Belmont on Saturday. Both matches are set for 6 p.m. on ACC Network Extra.
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