CHICAGO -- The Duquesne University volleyball team dropped its final road match of the regular season in five sets to Loyola Chicago on Saturday at Gentile Arena. 

The Dukes (10-12, 5-9) got out to a 2-1 lead, but the Ramblers (14-11, 12-2) won back-to-back sets to claim the match and their 12th straight win.

Freshman Avery Hobson recorded a 14-kill, 16-dig double-double to lead Duquesne. The 16 digs tied an early career-best for Hobson. Carsyn Henschen added 13 kills. Morgan Gish tied a career-high with four aces along with nine digs, six blocks, and five kills.

Jordan Robertson also had six blocks for the DU defense, while Ariel Helm added five and had seven kills.

Chloe Wilmot posted her 11th 40+ assist match of her freshman campaign with 42 on the afternoon.

Duquesne won the first set 25-18 behind a .333 hitting percentage. The Dukes went on an 8-4 run to make it 22-16, Hobson spearheaded the stretch with two kills and an ace.

After Loyola evened the match with a 25-10 win in the second set, Duquesne took the lead back with a 25-20 decision in the middle frame. The Dukes recorded 15 kills and hit .364 in the third. DU used an 8-1 spurt to build a 12-6 lead and  won six of the final 10 rallies to take the set. Henschen and Hobson each recorded four kills in the set. 

Loyola broke open the fourth frame with a late 6-2 run to set up set point at 24-17 and finished it off 25-19 forcing a winner-take-all set. The Ramblers never trailed in the fifth and capped off the match with five straight rally victories taking it 15-8.

The Dukes will conclude their regular season with four straight home games across the next two weekends at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse. Duquesne will host George Mason next Friday (6 pm) and Saturday (4 pm), followed by a weekend twinbill against Davidson on November 3 and 4. 

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