PITTSBURGH – The Duquesne University volleyball team fell to Robert Morris in five sets Saturday afternoon to wrap up the Duquesne/Robert Morris Invitational.

The Dukes' record is now 1-5 on the season. RMU improves to 3-3.

It was a heartbreaking loss for the Dukes, who led 2-1 after three sets.

Duquesne had three players with 12 or more kills – Sophomore Anna Shoemake (15), senior Morgan Kelly (12) and freshman Carsyn Henschen (12).

This is the third-straight game that Kelly has recorded 10 or more kills. Her and Henschen are first and second on the team with 3.50 and 3.05 kills per set, respectively.

Shoemake had her best game of the year and tied her career high of 15 kills in the process. In addition to her 15 kills, she also tied her career-high of six total blocks.

Sophomore Madison Floyd also tied a career high with six blocks. The Dukes had 20 total blocks on the day, the most they have had in a game this year.

Senior Hailey Poling recorded a season-high 43 assists in the five-set thriller.

Freshman Ariel Helm once again played solid, recording eight kills and three blocks.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Duquesne led by most of the first set, but not by much. Its lead never got very high and RMU even worked its way back to a tie on three occasions. Regardless, it was close until the end when Duquesne went on a 7-0 run to win the set, fresh out of a timeout.  

The second set went in the opposite direction for the Dukes. It was tied at 7-7 early, but then the Colonials went on an 11-2 run that essentially ended the set at 18-9. Duquesne battled, but couldn't make up much ground and lost the set 25-16.

The third set looked like it could've ended with another lopsided score early, but the Dukes made sure that wouldn't happen. Down 14-10, the Dukes started chipping away at the lead, finally taking it at 22-21. From there, they went on a 3-0 run after an RMU point to win the set 25-23.

The fourth set is where things started to get tricky for Duquesne. It felt a lot like the third set early on, with the Dukes falling behind by a handful of points before creeping back up to get within a couple. The Dukes did eventually tie it at 17-17, but RMU ended strong and finished set four with a 8-3 run.

The last set also went RMU's way. It was close until about halfway through when RMU took a 9-7 lead. They shutout the Dukes from that point on and took a 6-0 run to the finish line for the win.

GAME NOTES

• Shoemake tied a career high with 15 kills and another career high with six total blocks today. She also led the team with a .333 hitting percentage.
• Kelly has now recorded 10 or more kills in three-straight games.
• Henschen was named to the All-Tournament Team after recording 41 kills in three matches. She also notched seven service aces in the three matches.
• Floyd tied a career high with six blocks today as well.
• Duquesne's 20 total blocks mark a season high as a team.

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