No. 20 Carolina volleyball kept its grip on Duke Thursday night, knocking off the Blue Devils 3-1 in Durham and stretching its winning streak in the rivalry to six straight matches.
The Tar Heels took the match 25-18, 20-25, 25-19, 25-21 behind a huge night from Meghan Clifford, who posted a career-high eight blocks and matched her career best with five kills. Sadie Swift also made a strong impact after stepping into the lineup, finishing with six kills and six blocks.
UNC had to work through some early swings in the opening set. Duke struck first, but the Tar Heels answered with a 4-0 run to move back in front.
The Blue Devils then put together an 8-2 surge to seize control and force a timeout. Carolina regrouped, tied the set at 14-14 and, after a successful challenge, went into the media timeout leading 15-14.
From there, the Tar Heels took over, outscoring Duke 10-4 to close the set 25-18. Swift had three blocks in the frame, while Chelsea Thorpe paced the offense with three kills.
Duke evened the match in the second set, handing UNC its first set loss to the Blue Devils since Nov. 24, 2023.
Carolina came out of the break with a different gear. The Tar Heels jumped to an 8-1 lead in the third set and never let Duke get close.
Safi Hampton delivered five kills in the frame, Clifford was everywhere at the net with five blocks, and Laynie Smith added four blocks of her own. UNC finished the set 25-19 to move back in front.
The fourth set turned into a scramble before Carolina finished the job. Duke led 20-17 when Thorpe stopped the momentum with a kill, and an error by the Blue Devils trimmed the margin to one.
Duke briefly pushed the lead back to two, but the Tar Heels answered again. Hampton made it 21-20, then head coach Mike Schall called timeout and brought Erin Curtis in to serve.
Curtis immediately delivered an ace to tie it at 21-21, Thorpe put UNC ahead with another kill, and after a Duke timeout Hampton added a kill to make it 23-21. A Duke error set up match point, and Clifford ended it with a kill off an overpass.
UNC has now won 11 of the last 12 meetings with Duke. The teams meet again Sunday at 1 p.m. at Carmichael Arena on ACC Network.
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