PITTSBURGH – A trio of Dukes finished with 15 kills apiece to lift Duquesne (9-10, 4-4 A-10) to a 3-1 win over Fordham (5-12, 2-4 A-10) Friday night at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse.
 
The Dukes won by set scores of 25-19, 22-25, 25-21, 25-16.
 
Summer Slade (Lancaster, N.Y./St. Mary's), Morgan Kelly (Florence, Ky./Cooper) and Anna Shoemake (Dayton, Ohio/Beavercreek) each posted 15 kills in the victory. Slade and Shoemake each finished with 11 digs, while Shoemake added four blocks. Kelly was the top hitter out of the three, posting a hitting percentage of .316.
 
Anita Parrott (League City, Texas/Clear Falls) also finished in double figures with 10 kills and a team-best .429 hitting percentage to go with five blocks.
 
Hailey Poling (Uniontown, Ohio/Lake) guided the offense with 54 assists. She also chipped in 15 digs and three service aces. Camille Spencer (Brentwood, Tenn./Ravenwood) paced the defensive efforts with 21 digs.
 
The Dukes finished with 60 kills as a team. Duquesne has posted 60 kills or more in back-to-back matches after having done so just once in the first 17 contests (vs. Akron).
 
Defending A-10 Rookie of the Year Whitley Moody led Fordham with 16 kills, but was limited to a .170 hitting percentage.
 
Duquesne will host its annual "Dig Pink" match to support the Side-Out Foundation and raise funds for Breast Cancer Research on Sunday, Oct. 17 when it takes on Rhode Island. Fans are encouraged to wear "pink" for the 12 p.m. match, which will also broadcast live on ESPN+.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Dukes took a 5-1 lead in the first set. With the score at 12-8, DU rolled off five-straight points, including a rare Poling kill, to open up a 17-8 advantage. Fordham never got any closer than five points and a kill by Ego Onu (Lansdale, Pa./Lansdale Catholic) clinched the set for the Dukes at 25-19.
• The Rams had the 4-1 lead early in the second set, before a run by the Dukes and a kill by Kelly gave DU a 7-6 edge. The lead was short-lived, as Fordham notched three-straight to put the Dukes back into a hole. The Rams never relinquished the lead and closed out a tight 25-22 win to even the score.
• Fordham retained momentum and opened up a 16-10 lead in the third set. The Dukes answered with seven-straight points to take the lead at 17-16, including back-to-back Slade kills. The set was tied at 21-21, when DU went on another run with four-straight to clinch the come-from-behind win at 25-21.
• Duquesne led wire-to-wire in the fourth set. DU was up 7-5 when it went on an 8-4 run to push its advantage to 15-9. Fordham got as close as three, but the Dukes took eight of the final 10 points to secure the four-set win.