PITTSBURGH – The Duquesne volleyball team (9-11, 4-5 A-10) was defeated by Rhode Island (10-13, 2-5 A-10) in four sets Sunday afternoon in the annual "Dig Pink" match at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse.
 
The Rams won by set scores of 25-17, 17-25, 25-23, 25-17.
 
Summer Slade (Lancaster, N.Y./St. Mary's) led the Dukes with 14 kills and added nine digs on defense. Morgan Kelly (Florence, Ky./Cooper) and Ego Onu (Lansdale, Pa./Lansdale Catholic) also finished in double figures with 11 and 10 kills, respectively. Anita Parrott (League City, Texas/Clear Falls) posted nine kills and a team-high five blocks.
 
Hailey Poling (Uniontown, Ohio/Lake) dished out 46 assists and had 10 digs, while Ashley Larson (Highlands Ranch, Colo./Valor Christian) led the defense with 13 digs.
 
The Dukes finished with 51 kills on 137 attacks with 23 errors (.204 hitting percentage), compared to the Rams who posted 57 kills on a .262 hitting percentage.
 
Brynne Wright led Rhode Island with 20 kills, while Tori Britton posted six blocks on defense. As a team the Rams finished with 11 blocks.
 
The contest was the Duquesne volleyball team's annual "Dig Pink" match to raise funds for the Side-Out Foundation to support breast cancer research. Funds raised for Side-Out go toward research specifically for patients with metastatic breast cancer, the most advanced form of the disease, and the least funded area of research.
 
The Dukes will hit the road for their next four matches, beginning on Friday, Oct. 22 when they trek down to North Carolina to take on Davidson. The match is scheduled for 7 p.m. and will broadcast on ESPN+.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• The opening set was tied a 7-7, when the Rams notched three-straight points to take the largest lead of the set to that point at 10-7. The Dukes managed to draw within one, 12-11, but Rhode Island built its lead back to 19-14 to force a Dukes timeout. The Rams eventually closed out the set at 25-17. URI posted five blocks in the opening frame.
• The score was tied for the seventh time in the set at 8-8. Duquesne went on to score eight-straight points to open up a 16-8 advantage to put the frame out of reach. The Rams managed slice the Dukes' lead down to 19-14, but DU did not allow Rhode Island to get any closer. Duquesne hit .452 in the set, while Rhode Island had just one block.
• The Dukes were in a 12-10 deficit when it went on 6-2 run to take the lead at 16-14. The Rams answered back and reclaimed the lead at 20-19, but a quick 4-1 spurt by DU had it two points from taking the set at 23-21. Rhode Island took a timeout and rallied for four-straight points to win the set 25-23.
• Rhode Island established a 7-3 lead early in the fourth set. Although the Dukes rallied to even the score at 10-10, the Rams responded with a big run to regain command. Rhode Island went on a 12-4 run to take a big lead and clinched the set at 25-17.