Blue Devils Set to Host Duke Invitational

DURHAM – The Duke volleyball team is set to host its 2022 opening weekend with the Duke Invitational Sept. 2-3 in Cameron Indoor Stadium.

The Blue Devils welcome East Carolina, ETSU and Northeastern for six matches. Duke will face ETSU Friday at noon before a 10am match against Northeastern Saturday, followed by East Carolina at 7pm.

LAST TIME OUT

• Duke went 1-2 in its opening weekend on the road at the doTERRA Classic in Provo, Utah. The Blue Devils fell to Washington State (3-1) and No. 10 BYU (3-1) before capturing a 3-1 victory over Rider.
• Senior outside hitter Gracie Johnson leads the team with 53 kills in three matches for a 4.42 kills/set average. She’s also hitting .254 percent. Two graduate students made their Duke debuts as Devon Chang finished the weekend with 105 assists (9.55 assists/set) while Madison Bryant tallied 52 digs (4.33 digs/set).

A CLOSER LOOK AT THE SERIES

• EAST CAROLINA: Duke and East Carolina meet for the 42nd time in program history, but the first since 2012. The Blue Devils lead the all-time series 28-13.
• ETSU: Duke is 4-3 against ETSU and 0-1 in Durham, the only non-neutral site match in program history.
• NORTHEASTERN: Duke won the lone meeting against Northeastern in Cameron Indoor Stadium in 2012.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS

• EAST CAROLINA: East Carolina is 2-1 following its opening weekend hosting the Pirate Invitational. The Pirates secured wins over Furman (3-1) and Norfolk State (3-0) and fell to Towson (3-0). Angeles Alderete paces the offensive contingent with 42 kills and an impressive .371 clip to go along with 29 digs. The Pirates split time between two setters in Julianna Askew (58) and Payton Evenstad (45) and are hitting .217 as a team.
• ETSU: ETSU went 0-3 in the opening weekend at the Gators Invitational in Gainesville, Fla. The Buccaneers lost to No. 15 Florida (3-1), North Florida (3-0) and Virginia (3-1). As a team, ETSU is hitting .131 percent and are led by Jenna Forster with 19 kills and Abbey Thomas with a .385 hitting percentage. Setter Caroline Dykes owns 73 assists while Haley Sanders has tallied 26 digs.
• NORTHEASTERN: Northeastern enters the Duke Invitational 0-3 after falling to Northwestern, Pacific and UTEP last weekend in Evanston, Ill. Erica Staunton owns 37 kills to lead the offense whil setters Natalia Hagopian and Jessica…