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Blue Demons Edge Out NC State, 3-2
Raleigh, N.C. - The DePaul volleyball team opened the NC State Raleigh Crabtree Valley Marriott Classic with a 3-2 (25-23, 20-25, 23-25, 25-22, 15-6) win over tournament host NC State. The Blue Demons tallied a season-best 63 kills, while four student-athletes reached the double-digit plateau. DePaul issued the Wolfpack's third loss of the season, and improved its own record to 4-3.
Sammy Geiger stared in the Blue Demon's offensive effort today, registering a career-best 13 put-aways on a .478 (13-2-23) attack percentage. She also dished out 42 assists, while recording 8 digs. Kate Letcher paced the floor with 14 kills, and Chandler Carney and Lauren Blasi each had 11. On defense, DePaul had four athletes reach double-digit figures in digs. Chelsea Thurlby led the floor with 16 digs, while Sarah Cullen protected the floor with 13. Christy Landschoot and Katherine Knutson each added 10. The Blue Demons capitalized on five NC State service errors in the first set to win an otherwise evenly matched game. After six lead changes and the score knotted up another six times, DePaul was able to overcome a 19-16 deficit to win 25-23. Geiger led the Blue Demons with four kills and eight assists. Despite 14 DePaul kills and a .222 (14-6-36) team-attack percentage, NC State brought the score back to even after a 25-20 second stanza victory. With momentum going in their direction, the Wolfpack continued to cruise in the third game and took a 2-1 lead after putting the set away 25-23. With the match on the line, the Blue Demons fired back with a .241 (13-6-29) clip in the fourth set. Geiger was a perfect 4-for-4 on the attack, while Carney contributed three kills of her own. After watching the score see-saw the first half of the game, Blasi tallied a kill to give DePaul the lead, 11-10. From there the Blue Demons went on an 8-2 run behind the stellar service of Knutson, who added two service aces to her season total of 13. Geiger put away the final point, 25-22, terminating the ball off an assist from Cullen. DePaul commanded the fifth and final game, opening the set with a 5-0 run. NC State could not overcome the Blue Demons blistering .467 attack percentage, and bowed out 15-6. Molly Creek, who made her first court appearance of the season in the prior set, led the floor with 3 kills. The Blue Demons return to the court at 4:45 p.m. (CST), when they face Dartmouth. The Big Green dropped their opening match of the weekend against Xavier 3-0.
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