KINGSTON, R.I. – Led by four Dukes that tallied nine-plus kills, the Duquesne volleyball team (10-14, 4-7 A10) swept Rhode Island (6-16, 1-9 A10), 3-0, (25-23, 28-26, 25-17) on Saturday night at Keaney Gymnasium. The Dukes tallied their highest hitting-percentage of the season, hitting at a .373 clip against the Rams.  

The balanced offense was led in kills by Morgan Kelly, who connected on 15. Liz Wayne accounted for 14 kills, hitting at an extremely efficient mark of .722. Maria Mosbacher added 11 kills, while hitting a clip .400. Summer Slade hammered nine kills, while hitting .381. The Dukes' quartet combined for 49 of Duquesne's 51 kills, and combined for just six attack errors on the evening.

Freshman Hailey Poling distributed 44 assists. Along with her 46 assist output against Fordham on Friday night, the native of Uniontown, Ohio averaged 12.86 assists per set this weekend.

Another freshman that had an outstanding weekend was Ashley Larson, who tallied 22 digs Rhode Island. Against Fordham (30 digs in four sets) and Rhode Island, the Highlands, Colo. product averaged 7.43 digs per set over the weekend. Kelly also reached double-figures in digs (11) to complete the double-double.

Ego Onu led the way with four blocks to lead the Dukes.

The match marked the third consecutive match and fifth on the season that the Dukes were led by freshmen in kills, assists and digs.

The Dukes will play its final three A-10 regular season contests at Mt. Lebanon High School, with the Dukes taking on Saint Louis on Friday Nov. 8 and Dayton the following day on Nov. 9. The Dukes close the regular season against La Salle in the South Hills on Saturday, Nov. 16.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The hard-fought match featured 26 tied scores and 10 lead changes, as the first set featured 14 and six, respectively. Duquesne led 16-15, until the Rams reeled off five consecutive points to force a Duquesne timeout and to retake a lead at 19-16. With the Rams leading 21-18, the Dukes stormed ahead on a 4-0 sprint to grab a 22-21 advantage. URI tied the set at 22-22, but a kill from Wayne and a Ram attack error gave the Dukes set point at 24-22. URI tallied a kill to come within a point of tying the set, but Slade ended the frame with a kill, as the Dukes took a 1-0 lead by winning the first set, 25-23.  
• It was another back-and-forth set in the second frame, as URI took a three-point lead at 13-10, but the Dukes would eventually erase it, tying the set at 16-16. The Rams responded with a 4-0 run to take a 20-16 lead. The Dukes put together a tremendous rally on set point, as the Dukes trailed 24-20 as the Dukes tied the match after kills from Slade, Wayne and two from Mosbacher which tied the set at 24-24. URI reached set point once again at 25-24 and 26-25, but the Dukes kept responding. With the score tied at 26-26, Kelly earned back-to-back kills to win the thrilling come-from-behind set, 28-26.
• The Rams tallied the first three points in the third set, but the Dukes countered with six consecutive to force a Rhody timeout at 6-3. URI tied the match at 6-6 and 7-7 before Duquesne posted a three-point run to take a 10-7 edge. The Dukes took a five-point advantage at 15-10, but the Rams sliced the deficit to 15-13. With Duquesne leading 18-15, the Dukes closed the match strong on a 10-2 sprint to complete the sweep over Rhode Island.