File Photo Courtesy of Mark Campbell

Delaware - Duke Boxscore

Delaware - Charleston Boxscore

CHARLESTON, S.C. – Facing two teams that participated in last year’s NCAA Tournament, the University of Delaware could not overcome its tough competition as the Blue Hens fell to Duke, 3-1 (25-23, 9-25, 15-25, 20-25), and the College of Charleston, 3-0 (17-25, 17-25, 18-25), on the final day of the Charleston Invitational at the John Kresse Arena on Saturday.

Despite the impressive pedigree of its opponents, the Blue Hens held tough, even taking the first set of Saturday’s early match against Duke. Like Delaware, the Blue Devils advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament last season. This year, the team has posted an 8-3 record with all of its setbacks coming against top-25 opponents.

Delaware (3-10) was led by Steph Barry, who earned All-Tournament honors after collecting 38 digs on Saturday. The Blue Hen offense was anchored by Katie Dennehy, who posted a team-high 22 kills during the two contests. Elena Delle Donne (at right) also had the best performance of her career in the first match, notching a career-high 11 kills to go along with three blocks.

Paige Erickson also continued her strong sophomore campaign, blasting 14 kills and recording six blocks on Saturday.

Although the team was without its two captains for the second straight week, the Blue Hens came out ready to play in the opening match. Against the Blue Devils, Delaware battled to five ties in the early part of the first set. Still knotted at 10 apiece, Duke won four of the next five rallies to take a three-point lead at 14-11.

Unfazed by the minor setback, Dennehy fired two kills in the span of three plays before a Duke error and a Delle Donne kill retied the game at 15. Still tied at 19, the Blue Devils took their last lead of the set at 20-19.

A kill by Kim Stewart and an ace by Greta Gibboney helped Delaware regain its lead. After Duke knotted the set at 21, a Paige Erickson kill and another Blue Devil error gave the Hens a two-point lead at 23-21.

Although Duke chipped its deficit down to one on two separate occasions, two late kills by Dennehy sealed the opening-set victory for Delaware at 25-23.

As would be expected from Duke, the team did not wilt under the pressure of a loss in the first frame. Despite an early block by Erickson that gave the Hens a 1-0 lead, the Blue Devils rebounded quickly, taking a 9-4 advantage before a Delaware timeout.

Still trailing by five at 10-5, the Blue Hens could not stop a six-point run by Duke that was aided by four Delaware miscues. Although a block by Erickson and Meghan Bonk finally snapped the streak, the Blue Devils simply pieced together another four-point run that was capped off by a Rachael Moss ace and gave the team an imposing 20-6 lead.

Trailing by 14, Delaware could do little to rebound, collecting two late kills by Delle Donne and Helen Fitzpatrick before falling by a 25-9 score.

With the match tied at one game apiece, Duke came out on fire again, grabbing a 10-3 lead in the third frame. A kill by Dennehy and an attack error by the Blue Devils helped Delaware fight back to within five. Eventually, the Hens brought the deficit down to four at 16-12 following three straight kills by Erickson, Delle Donne, and Dennehy. Unfortunately, that was as close as the team could get.

Delle Donne eventually scored the Blue Hens’ last three points of the set before Duke clinched a 25-15 victory with a five-point roll that was capped by a block from Sophia Dunworth and Becci Burling.

Leading two games to one, Duke once again proved to be quick out of the gate in the fourth and final frame. Although Delaware held a 4-2 lead after Stewart, Erickson, and Delle Donne posted early kills, the Blue Devils quickly went on an eight-point roll highlighted by four kills from Rachael Moss.

Now trailing by six at 10-4, Delaware capitalized on a Duke service error and a Dennehy ace to pull within four at 10-6. Although the Blue Devils extended their lead to as many as seven, the Hens refused to go down quietly. Back-to-back kills by Stewart and one by Erickson brought the team’s deficit down to five at 15-10.

Unfortunately, Duke regained its seven-point advantage and later used two errors by Delaware to extend the lead to nine at 23-14. After three straight points by the Hens, a kill by Brittany Staffeil gave the Blue Devils match-point at 24-17.

Although Delaware showed impressive character at the end of the set, extending the match by winning three straight points including two on kills by Stewart and Erickson, the deficit was simply too much to overcome. Eventually, Amanda Robertson posted the clinching kill to give Duke the victory with a 25-20 win in the fourth set.

Stewart finished the match with her first career double-double, posting 10 kills and digs. Erickson also chipped in with six kills and a team-high four blocks, while Gibboney fired two aces during the match.

Jess Chason posted a team-high 29 assists for Delaware, while Helen Fitzpatrick, who saw her first major action as a setter this season, added eight more. Steph Barry led a strong defensive effort, notching a match-high 24 digs.

Duke was led by Becci Burling, who had 10 kills and nine blocks. Rachael Moss also chipped in with a double-double, posting 12 digs and 11 kills, while Kellie Catanach led the way with 43 assists.

The victory was the 400th of Duke head coach Jolene Nagel’s career. She now stands at 400-233.

After taking a mid-day break, the Blue Hens came back to close out the tournament with a match-up against the host Cougars. The seven-time defending Southern Conference champions proved to be a formidable opponent from the outset of the match.

At the beginning of the first set, the two teams battled back-and-forth with the Hens holding an early 5-2 lead before the Cougars fought back to take a 6-5 advantage. Although the Hens retook the lead with back-to-back kills by Dennehy and another by DelleDonne, Charleston orchestrated an 11-1 run to take control of the set at 18-9.

Despite a streak by Delaware that saw the Hens capture six of the next nine rallies, including three kills by Stewart and two from Erickson, the run was not enough to overcome the deficit. Charleston ended the set on a 4-2 roll to put the Hens in a hole with a 25-17 setback.

With one game in hand, the Cougars jumped out in the second frame, putting Delaware in an early bind by taking an 8-1 lead. Charleston proved to be strong frontrunners, eventually expanding their advantage to nine at 15-6 despite a mid-set streak by the Hens that was highlighted by an ace from Fitzpatrick.

After that point, Delaware could never quite fight back into the set, only pulling within seven twice, the last coming at 24-17 following a Barry ace and a Cougar error. The following play, Emily Sawin recorded a kill to end the frame at 25-17.

Trailing by two sets, the Hens battled to a 4-4 tie in the third frame that included a kill by Delaware freshman Janeen McCormick, who was making her collegiate debut following an injury that sidelined her for the early part of the season.

Charleston broke the tie with a short streak that gave them a 7-4 lead. The Cougars eventually held that three-point advantage for much of the final frame before going on a late four-point run, which included three kills by Elyse Chubb, to extend the lead to seven at 18-11.

Three kills by Stewart and one from Paige Erickson helped to effectively end the Cougar run and pull Delaware back within four at 19-15. Unfortunately, four straight points by Charleston gave the team a commanding 23-15 lead, and after two kills from Ginny Phillips, the Cougars completed the three-set sweep with a 25-18 victory.

Dennehy and Erickson split the team lead with eight kills apiece, while Stewart added seven to go along with nine digs.

Charleston was led by Emily Sawin, who had 12 kills, six digs, and two blocks. Elyse Chubb also had seven kills and four blocks, while Cole Dawley posted a match-high 29 assists.

Delaware returns home for the first time in two weeks when the Hens host intrastate rival Delaware State on Tuesday at 7 p.m.