YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – The Dukes (2-1) dropped a heartbreaking five set match to Akron (3-0) by set scores of 25-22, 24-26, 23-25, 25-23, 15-13 Saturday afternoon to close out play in the YSU/DoubleTree Invitational.
 
Outside hitter Morgan Kelly (Florence, Ky./Cooper) established a career-high with 24 kills on 60 attacks and posted a .217 hitting percentage. She also finished with a trio of service aces and a team-high 18 digs.
 
Setter Hailey Poling (Uniontown, Ohio/Lake) also established a career-high with 58 assists. She surpassed her previous best by 12 and also added 11 digs for a double-double in the loss.
 
Middle hitter Anita Parrott (League City, Texas/Clear Falls) led the defensive efforts for the Dukes, matching a career-best with nine blocks.
 
Outsides Anna Shoemake (Dayton, Ohio/Beavercreek) and Summer Slade (Lancaster, N.Y./St. Mary's) recorded double-digit kills with 12 and 11, respectively. Shoemake chipped in six blocks, while Slade added 17 digs to her final line.
 
In addition to Kelly, Poling and Slade, defensive specialists Camille Spencer (Brentwood, Tenn./Ravenwood) and Ashley Larson (Highlands Ranch, Colo./Valor Christian) also posted double-digit dig totals with 16 and 15, respectively.
 
Akron's Teagan Ochaya led the Zips with 16 kills.
 
Duquesne finished the match with more kills (66-58), points (83.0-77.0) and digs (88-67). Akron held a slight advantage in hitting percentage, committed 26 errors and forced the Dukes into 36.

Following the match, both Kelly and Shoemake were named to the YSU/DoubleTree Invitational All-Tournament Team.
 
Duquesne will travel to nearby Moon Township, Pennsylvania for the two-day Robert Morris/Chick-Fil-A Labor Day Classic starting on Friday, Sept. 3. The Dukes will open play against Idaho at 12:30 p.m., and conclude the first day against Liberty around 4 p.m.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Duquesne opened the match with leads of 8-6 and 12-7, before Akron rallied to tie the set up at 15-15. The Zips put the Dukes in a 17-15 hole and extended the deficit to 21-17. Duquesne came all the way back to within one, 22-21, but Akron closed out the set at 25-22.
• There was virtually zero separation between the two teams in a second set that featured 15 tie scores. Duquesne trailed 16-15, before Kelly collected a trio of aces to give the Dukes the lead. After a kill by Ego Onu increased the DU lead to 22-19, Akron answered with five-straight points to go ahead 23-22. The Dukes managed to tie the set back up at 24 and back-to-back kills by Kelly gave DU a 26-24 set win. 
• The Dukes trailed early in the third set, before a kill by Kelly knotted the score at 5-5. DU eventually built an 11-7 lead. Five-straight by the Zips gave them the lead, but the Dukes answered to take a 16-14 advantage and set the stage for another back-and-forth ending. After six ties scores, Anna Shoemake delivered a kill to put DU ahead 23-21. Akron rallied to knot the score at 23, before kills by Slade and Shoemake gave the Dukes a 25-23 win in the third set.
• Duquesne had the early jump on Akron with a 9-5 lead to start the fourth set. The Zips tied the match at 13 and put the Dukes in a 18-14 hole. DU rallied back to tie the set at 23-23, but the Zips closed out the set with consecutive kills to force a fifth set.
• The Dukes established a 4-1 lead to open the fifth set. Akron answered back to tie the score up at 7-7, before kills by Parrott and Shoemake put the Dukes ahead 9-7 and forced an Akron timeout. After the Zips tied the set back up at 10, neither team held a lead of more than one point until consecutive kills by Akron closed out the match at 15-13.