YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – The Duquesne volleyball team (2-0) opened the 2021 season with wins over Youngstown State (0-2) and Saint Francis U (0-2) on the first day of the YSU/DoubleTree Invitational Friday afternoon.
The victory in the season opener over Youngstown State also marked Head Coach
Steve Opperman's 450
th career win. Opperman, who entered his 24
th season on the Bluff, is the all-time winningest coach at Duquesne with 331 wins.
In the season-opening win over Youngstown State (25-21, 25-17, 25-19),
Summer Slade (Lancaster, N.Y./St. Mary's) led the Dukes with a kill-dig double-double of 10 kills and 11 digs (both team highs), while setter
Hailey Poling (Uniontown, Ohio/Lake) dished out 27 assists.
In the team's four-set win over Saint Francis U (25-23, 25-21, 22-25, 25-15),
Morgan Kelly (Florence, Ky./Cooper) collected a team-high 13 kills, while Slade and
Anna Shoemake (Dayton, Ohio/Beavercreek) chipped in nine and eight, apiece. Poling guided the offense in the win with 31 assists.
Camille Spencer (Brentwood, Tenn./Ravenwood) led the defensive efforts with 13 digs, while
Anita Parrott added seven blocks.
The Dukes will close out play at the YSU/DoubleTree Invitational tomorrow, Saturday, August 28 with a match versus Akron (
YouTube) at noon.
HOW IT HAPPENED vs. YOUNGSTOWN STATE
- The Dukes opened up a 7-2 lead early on with the help of service aces by both Morgan Kelly and Camille Spencer. Duquesne pushed its lead to 13-6 on a kill by Anita Parrott, before a quick spurt by the Penguins closed the gap to 13-9. YSU got as close as 17-15 on the heels of three-straight points, but a kill by Ego Onu ended the run. The Dukes re-built their lead to 21-16 and another kill by Onu ended the set at 25-21.
- The Penguins established a 6-2 lead to start the second set. Duquesne rallied back to tie the set at nine and took its first lead at 10-9. The two teams were even at 10, 11 and 12 points apiece, before DU rolled off five-straight to establish a 17-12 edge. Although the Penguins managed to narrow the deficit to 19-16, the Dukes did not allow them to get any closer and took a 2-0 lead in the match with a 25-17 win.
- Youngstown State got off to another fast start in the third set. The Penguins scored the first four points, before a kill by Kelly ended the run. Duquesne rallied back again and took it first lead of the set at 9-8. Another kill by Kelly that made the score 11-10 gave the Dukes the lead for good. Duquesne led by as many as nine points and closed out the match with a 25-18 win in the third set.
HOW IT HAPPENED vs. SAINT FRANCIS U
- The Dukes went up 6-3 in the first set on a kill by Shoemake. Saint Francis U rallied back to take the lead at 12-9 and eventually built a 15-10 advantage. Duquesne answered back with five-straight points to knot the game up. The set was tied at 15, 16, 17 and 18, before the Dukes finally established a 20-18 edge. DU looked to be on its way at 23-20, but the Red Flash tied the set once again at 23. A kill by Kelly and an attack error allowed the Dukes to come away with the set win at 25-23.
- Duquesne recorded the first three points of the second set. SFU answered back to take leads of 7-4 and 13-7 to force the Dukes to take a timeout. DU closed the gap to 14-10 and eventually reclaimed the lead at 17-16. Duquesne opened up a lead of 23-18 and closed the set for a 2-0 lead at 25-21.
- The Red Flash put the Dukes in a 7-3 hole to start the third set. Duquesne answered back to take the lead at 9-8 and stretched its advantage to 14-12. SFU managed to take a 15-14 lead and held on down the stretch to deal DU a 25-22 loss.
- Both teams traded points early in the fourth set. Duquesne led 7-6 and eventually built a 15-8 advantage, capped off by a pair of Ellie Lund service aces, to open up a big lead. SFU got as close as four, 15-11, but the Dukes did not allow the Red Flash to get any closer.
