BRONX, N.Y. -- The Duquesne University volleyball team fell in its first Atlantic 10 match on the road to Fordham on Friday in the Bronx.  

The Dukes (5-4, 0-1 A-10) fell in five sets to lose their third straight match, despite having three players with over 15 kills including sophomore Carsyn Henschen with 17 as well as graduate student Morgan Gish and sophomore Avery Hobson with 15 apiece. Gish also tallied a team-high 15 digs. 

Freshman Chloe Wilmot continued her stellar rookie season with a 53-assist night. She also tallied four aces, tied for most in the match with Hobson. 

Fordham (10-1, 1-0 A-10) sophomore Audrey Brown led the game with 21 kills, four of which came in the fifth set.  

The Dukes ended the match with more total attacks (179-154), kills (59-58), and aces (14-8), however a .167 attack rate to .227 for the Rams was a key reason for the end result.

Fordham tallied four straight points to take a back-and-forth opening set, after DU narrowed the margin to two at 21-19. 

Duquesne scored the first three points of set two and never trailed, evening the match at a set apiece. This time four consecutive points gave DU the set victory, 25-17.

Another 3-0 start for the Dukes began set three. The Rams battled back to tie the match at 11-11 and 12-12, but three straight points for Duquesne pushed the lead to 15-12 and DU held it the rest of the way closing out a 25 -21 win to go up two games to one.

Fordham broke the early scoring streak for DU in the fourth frame, but the Dukes were still able to get in front. Duquesne led by as many as four points (10-6), then held a narrow 19-17 advantage late in the set vying for a match-clinching victory. The Rams flipped the script late with six straight points and eight of the last nine scores to force a winner-take-all fifth set (25-20).

Duquesne pushed ahead and held a lead of as many as five (12-7) late in the winner-take-all set. The Dukes were a point away from clinching the match (14-10), but dropped five straight rallies as Fordham continued to extend the match. Duquesne fought off two match points, but ultimately surrendered the match 18-16.

The Dukes and Rams will reconvene tomorrow at 2 p.m. to finish the season set.

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