RICHMOND, VA - Duquesne (1-6, 1-6 A10) dropped a 3-0 decision to VCU (10-3, 4-2) on Monday afternoon at VCU's Siegel Center.

The match (20-25, 16-25, 19-25) which was the second in less than 24 hours between the two, completed the road portion of the 2021 spring schedule for the Dukes.

Summer Slade led DU with nine kills on her way to a team-high 12 points. Anita Parrott and Nicolette Jones hit .600 and .500 respectively in limited attempts for the Dukes.

Hailey Poling was once again Duquesne's assist leader with 18.

Duquesne returns to Pittsburgh to close out the home portion of the 2020-21 schedule with back-to-back matches vs. Dayton on March 19 & 20 at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse. Friday's match will start at 6:00 p.m., with Saturday's set for a 4:00 p.m. start. Both will be streamed on ESPN+.


HOW IT HAPPENED

• There were five ties, the last at 7-7, before VCU took a three-point lead on the second of back-to-back kills from Paula Neciporuka. The Dukes pulled to within two, at 12-10, on a Maria Mosbacher kill, but found themselves down 15-11 at the media timeout. The Rams scored seven of the next nine points to take a 22-13 prior to a Duquesne timeout. DU got a pair of aces from Summer Slade to make it 22-16, and a Morgan Kelly kill made it 23-18. Duquesne survived three set points to cut it to 24-20, before VCU put it away on a Neciporuka kill.
   
• Morgan Kelly had a kill and an ace early as VCU took a 6-4 lead. The Rams upped the advantage to 12-6 on an Alyna Draper ace. DU made it 12-8 on an Anita Parrott kill, but trailed 15-9 at the media timeout. The Dukes strung together three points for the first time in the set to make it 16-12 on a Kelly block, but couldn't sustain the momentum as VCU went on the win the set. Slade and Parrott had three kills each for DU.
   
• VCU scored seven-straight points following a brief 2-1 Dukes lead. DU scored two points following a timeout to make it 8-4, but could get no closer as VCU answered with four points to go up 12-4. A great dig by Boe allowed Slade to make it 12-6 on a kill. A kill by Nicolette Jones kept the Dukes within six at 13-7. The Rams extended their lead to 19-10 before a Parrott block. Jones' second kill of the set and a Kelly block made it 20-13. A block by Slade pulled DU within seven at 22-15. DU faced four match points in putting together its first four-point run of the afternoon to close the gap to 24-19, forcing a VCU timeout. Slade started the run with a pair of kills. VCU closed out the match on a DU service error.