Pittsburgh, Pa. – The Duquesne University volleyball team opened its series with Fordham on Friday night, dropping a 3-1 decision during Atlantic 10 play, inside UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse. The Dukes slipped to 12-8 overall this season while dropping to 3-5 in conference action.

POINT OF EMPHASIS
Duquesne opened the contest on a high note, collecting a 25-20 victory in the opening set. The Dukes registered 21 of its 25 points with successful swings while posting a .447 hitting percentage. The two squads traded the opening 10 points before the Dukes strung together a 7-1 stint to take a 12-6 advantage. An attacking error started the run before graduate student Grace Kristrofic tallied and ace, followed by a rejection from grad student Elizabeth Drelling and sophomore Jordan Robertson. Drelling found the floor successfully on the very next point before registering another kill after a Fordham kill. A Rams miscue and a successful swing from sophomore Avery Hobson concluded the run. The next six points were traded before Duquesne held a 20-14 lead later in the set. The Dukes would stretch its lead to 23-17 with kills from Hobson, junior Ariel Helm, and freshman Emersen Schrom before Drelling and Robertson secured the set with successful swings.

CONTINUE TO BATTLE
Fordham (6-11 / 2-6) would even the match with a 25-18 win in set two before jumping out to a 7-3 advantage in the third stanza. Duquesne would trim the deficit (9-6) thanks to a pair of kills from Drelling but the Rams stretched its lead to 11-6 with a block and an ace. The two teams traded the next eight points as Fordham held a 15-10 lead at the media timeout. Later in the set, the Rams held a 20-14 lead before the Dukes stormed back by bolstering a 7-3 stint. Robertson sparked the run with a kill before collecting a block with Schrom. The next four points were traded before a block from Schrom and a successful swing from junior Ariel Helm cut the lead to 22-19. Fordham tallied a point followed by back-to-back kills from Helm and Drelling which forced a Rams timeout. Out of the break, Helm and junior Carsyn Henschen recorded a block to trim the deficit (23-22) but a block from the visitors gave them a set point. Hobson found the floor successfully to bring it within one but Fordham ended the set with a kill (25-23) to the set and a 2-1 lead in the match.

INSIDE THE STAT SHEET
Three Dukes finished with double figure kills, led by Elizabeth Drelling. She tallied a season-high 18 kills while carding a .300 swing percentage. Drelling registered four digs and three total blocks on Friday. Ariel Helm finished with 11 successful swings, on a .409 hitting percentage while totaling six blocks and four digs. Jordan Robertson tied her career-high with 10 kills while swinging at a .529 percent clip and collected three total rejections. Sophomore Chloe Wilmot posted her seventh double-double of the season with 26 assists and 14 digs while tying her career-high with four aces. Grace Kristofic registered her second double-double with 17 helpers and 12 digs while posting three aces. Junior Madison Grimm ended with a team-leading 17 digs while tallying three assists.

UP NEXT
Duquesne concludes its weekend series with Fordham on Saturday, Oct. 19 while celebrating the 50^th season of Duquesne volleyball. The opening serve is scheduled for 2:00 p.m.