Box Score LOUISVILLE, Ky. ---- After falling in the first set, Samford earned a close win in set two to even the match, but the Duke offense came alive in the final two frames as they defeated the Bulldogs, 3-1.
 
Samford (1-4) earned 46 kills but was plagued by errors, committing 19 which limited their offense to a .216 clip.  For the second-straight game, Michaela Reesor led the team in kills, earning 13, while adding nine digs.  Casey Garvey paced the offense with 37 assists while Alexis Bauer led the defense with 12 digs.  Duke (4-1) had an efficient offense, led by Emily Sklar with 19 kills and a .472 hitting percentage. 
 
The Blue Devils held a slight edge for most of the beginning of set one, though the Bulldogs never let them get too far ahead.  Down 11-7, Samford scored two to cut the lead in half but Duke came back with a 5-1 run to give them the 16-10 lead.  Down 17-11, Samford scored four unanswered points, including back-to-back service aces by Taylor Chao, to draw within two.  With the Blue Devils up 21-16, the Bulldogs scored three unanswered to draw back within two, down 21-19.  Duke would outscore Samford 4-1 down the stretch however, as they took the first set 25-20.
 
Play was even to begin the second set, with Duke holding a slight lead but never more than two points.  Samford took its first lead of the set, 12-11, off a Duke attack error.  Samford would not relent the lead for the rest of the set, holding the edge until, up 24-23, Elizabeth Neisler laid down a kill to secure the 25-23 win and even the match at 1-1.
 
The Blue Devils came out firing in set three, jumping to a 5-0 lead forcing an early Samford timeout.  Duke would continue to build on their lead, eventually moving ahead by nine, up 21-12.  Samford scored four unanswered points to draw within five, down 21-16, forcing a Blue Devil timeout.  Trailing 24-18, Erika Devaughn and Reesor earned back-to-back kills to bring Samford within five, but Duke's Brittney Balser got a kill to give them the 25-20 win.
 
Duke got off to another fast start in set four, jumping ahead 5-0 as Samford regrouped with a timeout.  The Blue Devils' offense stayed hot, building a ten-point margin up 17-7.  Duke was looking for match point, serving up 24-9, and Samford scored a point but the Blue Devils came right back, securing the 3-1 win with the 25-10 tilt in set four.
 
Samford wraps up its weekend at the Cardinal Classic tonight as they face host team Louisville (5-1) at 7:30 p.m. ET.