BUFFALO, N.Y. – The Duquesne volleyball team (4-5) was dealt a 3-1 loss by American (5-3) in the finale of the Western New York Invitational Saturday morning.
 
American won by set scores of 25-21, 13-25, 25-17, 25-21.
 
After her historic performance in a win over Canisius on Friday, outside hitter Morgan Kelly (Florence, Ky./Cooper) tallied 21 kills on 43 attacks with a .302 hitting percentage (eight errors). Kelly averaged 4.50 kills per set and hit .229 over the three-match invitational and was named to the All-Tournament Team.
 
Outside hitter Summer Slade (Lancaster, N.Y./St. Mary's) paced Kelly with 10 kills and added a career-high six service aces. Setter Hailey Poling (Uniontown, Ohio/Lake) dished out 42 assists to go with 10 digs, while libero Camille Spencer (Brentwood, Tenn./Ravenwood) also chipped in 10 digs.
 
The Dukes will travel to the Buckeye State for the Kent State Golden Flashes Invitational next Friday and Saturday, September 17-18. DU will face Youngstown State on Friday at 6 p.m. and close out the weekend against host-Kent State at 4 p.m. on Saturday. The Kent State Invitational is the final tune-up for the Dukes before entering A-10 play.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Dukes opened up the match with four-straight points and led 5-2. American answered and the set went back-and-forth until the Eagles took 17-14 advantage. DU was in a 23-17 hole, but a pair of AU errors and kills by Kelly drew Duquesne back within three at 24-21. After an American timeout, the Eagles put the set away with a kill to win it 25-21.
• Duquesne got off to a hot start in the second set thanks in part to four aces by Slade to open up a 9-0 lead. The DU lead eventually was cut to six, 14-8, but another big run allowed the Dukes to rebuild the lead to 23-12. Outside hitter Anna Shoemake (Dayton, Ohio/Beavercreek) put the finishing touches on the set with a kill to clinch a 25-13 win to even up the match.
• The Dukes fell into a 7-3 hole to start the third set. Although Duquesne went on a 6-2 run to tie the match at 9-9, it never grabbed the lead. After tying the set up at 12 and 15, the Dukes faced a 19-15 deficit and were not able to recover, allowing American to take a 2-1 lead with a 25-17 set win.
• After playing from behind to start the set, the Dukes took a 13-12 lead with the help of three-straight points. A kill by Kelly had DU ahead 14-13, but the Eagles answered with seven of the next 10 points to put the Dukes into a 20-17 deficit. Another run of three-straight for Duquesne, including an ace and a kill by Slade, evened the set back up. American managed to close out the match with five of the next six points to take the set, 25-21.