Hawaii sweeps Duke in NCAA volleyball first round
No. 23 Hawaii swept No. 21 Duke 25-15, 25-19, 25-17 Friday in a NCAA women’s volleyball tournament first-round match in Seattle.
The Rainbow Wahine (22-6) will face No. 3 Washington in Saturday’s second round. The Huskies (30-2) had little problem in sweeping New Hampshire 25-9, 25-6, 25-18.
It will be the third time in five years Hawaii and Washington will meet in the second round, both on the Huskies’ home court. Washington swept Hawaii 3-0 in 2010 and eked out a 3-2 win in 2012.
Sophomore Nikki Taylor and junior middle Olivia Magill each had 10 kills and Hawaii outblocked Duke 11.4-5. Senior libero Sarah Mendoza had 17 of the team’s 53 digs.
Junior hitter Ginger Long replaced injured freshman hitter Kalei Greeley midway through Set 1. At 18-10, Greeley apparently rolled her right ankle when diving for a ball and never returned.
Long, who announced last week she would be retiring after this season, finished with six kills, eight digs and four blocks, including two solo.
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Emily Sklar led the Blue Devils (22-8) with 11 kills. Libero Sasha Karelov had 13 of the team’s 40 digs. Duke came into the match second nationally in kills per set (14.9), first in assists per set. (14.18) The Blue Devils had 29 kills and 28 assists.
Hawaii needed 94 minutes in dispatching Duke. The Rainbow Wahine are now 15-0 when winning Set 1.