NEW YORK – Despite a career-high 20 kills by Summer Slade (Lancaster, N.Y./St. Mary's), the Dukes were knocked off 3-1 at Fordham Saturday evening at Rose Hill Gym in an Atlantic 10 match.
 
Duquesne (10-14, 5-8 A-10) fell to the Rams (7-15, 4-7 A-10) by set scores of 18-25, 25-20, 25-17, 25-18.
 
Slade led all players with a career-high 20 kills and hit .260 in the setback. She also collected a team-high 14 digs on defense.
 
Morgan Kelly (Florence, Ky./Cooper) posted 14 kills, while both Anita Parrott (League City, Texas/Clear Falls) and Anna Shoemake (Dayton, Ohio/Beavercreek) each had nine kills in the loss.
 
Hailey Poling (Uniontown, Ohio/Lake) tossed around 47 assists with 11 digs.
 
Fordham finished with 64 kills, compared to the 56 posted by the Dukes. The Rams hit .338 on the evening, compared to the .242 registered by Duquesne.
 
Four Rams finished with double-digit kill totals, led by Izzy Fichtel's 16 in the win.
 
Duquesne returns home to UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse on Friday, Nov. 5 for an Atlantic 10 match against George Washington. The match is set for 6 p.m. and will broadcast on ESPN+.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Duquesne led wire-to-wire in the opening set win. Fordham got as close as 9-8, but the Dukes never relinquished the lead. With the score at 15-13, DUQ distanced itself with a 7-3 run that made the score 22-16. The Dukes eventually won the set at 25-18.
• The second set was tied at 6-6 when Fordham went on a 7-1 spurt to put the Dukes in a 13-7 deficit. Duquesne drew back within one at 14-13, but Fordham eventually rebuilt its lead to 22-19. The Rams went on to win the second set 25-20.
• There was little separating the two teams early in the third set. Fordham clung to a 11-10 lead, but built its lead to 19-12 to create distance from the Dukes. Duquesne made a late run to draw within four, 20-16, but Fordham managed to secure the 2-1 lead in the match with a 25-17 win.
• The fourth set went back-and-forth with a total of eight tie scores. Fordham put the Dukes in a 5-2 hole, but Duquesne answered and claimed the lead at 9-8. The two teams traded points and were tied at 16-16, before the Rams used a 6-1 run to take control of the set at 22-17. Fordham managed to hold off the Dukes and won the set 25-18.