WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Dukes (7-6, 2-0 A-10) rallied back from a two-set deficit to earn a 3-2 win over George Washington (0-12, 0-2 A-10) in a conference matchup Saturday evening.
 
After dropping the first two sets by scores of 25-21 and 26-24, Duquesne answered back with wins in the final three sets at 25-20, 25-18 and 15-12.
 
Summer Slade (Lancaster, N.Y./St. Mary's) led the Dukes with 17 kills with 14 digs in the win. Morgan Kelly (Florence, Ky./Cooper) and Ego Onu (Lansdale, Pa./Lansdale Catholic) each posted double-digit kill totals with 13 and 11, respectively. Kelly also chipped in a team-best four aces.
 
Camille Spencer (Brentwood, Tenn./Ravenwood) led the defensive efforts with 17 digs, while Hailey Poling's (Uniontown, Ohio/Lake) 35 assists paced the offense. Riley Speelman (Hilliard, Ohio/Hilliard Bradley) made her season-debut and added 19 assists.
 
Duquesne was held to a sub-.150 hitting percentage for just the second time this season, but also held GW below that number. The Dukes matched a season-high with 13 aces as a team.
 
After 13-straight road matches to open the season, the Dukes will play their home-opener at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse on Friday, October 1 when they challenge A-10-favorite Dayton. The match is slated for a 7 p.m. start and will broadcast live on ESPN+.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• GW opened up leads of 6-3 and 12-8 in the opening set. The Dukes rallied to knot the frame up at 12-12 and eventually took the lead at 15-14. The Colonials answered back to put DU in a 18-15 hole, but Duquesne managed to draw back to within one at 22-21 on kills by Onu and Anita Parrott (League City, Texas/Clear Falls). Despite the rally, GW closed the set out at 25-21. The Dukes were limited to just eight kills in the first-set loss.
• Duquesne started the second set with a 4-1 advantage, but GW responded and put the Dukes in a 9-7 hole. DU managed to retake the lead at 15-14 and eventually built a 19-15 advantage. The Colonials went on a 8-2 run to grab the lead at 23-21, forcing DU to take a timeout. The Dukes managed to answer and tied the set at 24-24, but consecutive points by GW ended the set at 26-24.
• With their backs against the wall, the Dukes got out to leads of 8-4 and 13-6 to force GW to use both of its timeouts early in the third set. The Colonials managed to cut the lead down to 14-10, but Duquesne did not allow them to get any closer and closed the set out at 25-20.
• DU once again got off to a good start with leads of 6-1 and 10-3 in the fourth set. The Colonials made a run to make the score 15-13, but a quick 5-2 spurt out of a Duquesne timeout rebuilt the lead to 20-15. With the score 23-18, Slade came up with a kill and Speelman served up an ace to clinch the frame at 25-18 to force the fifth set.
• The script remained the same for Duquesne in the fifth set. The team raced out to a 7-2 lead with the help of a trio of service aces by Ashley Larson (Highlands Ranch, Colo./Valor Christian). GW eventually knotted the score up at 9-9, but the Dukes took five of the next six points to reach match-point. After a pair of GW points, Parrott completed the come-from-behind win with a kill to end the match at 15-12.