Pittsburgh, Pa. – Junior middle blocker
Ariel Helm broke the program record for most blocks in a single season but the Duquesne University volleyball team dropped a 3-0 decision to Loyola Chicago on Saturday afternoon inside UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse. With the loss, the Dukes fall to 13-13 overall this season, with a 4-10 record in conference play.
POINT OF EMPHASIS
Loyola Chicago (14-11 / 9-5) took an early 1-0 in the match after a first set victory before the two teams had a back-and-forth affair in the second set. The Ramblers held a 12-9 advantage before the Dukes knotted the score with three straight points, one of them being a kill from sophomore
Jordan Robertson. The two sided traded the next six points before Loyola Chicago put together an 8-2 stint to take a commanding 23-18 lead. Freshman
Emersen Schrom would find the floor successfully on the next point but the Ramblers closed the stanza with consecutive kills (25-19) to take a 2-0 lead in the match.
CONTINUE TO FIGHT
In the third set, Loyola Chicago took an early 9-2 lead before the Dukes responded with five of the next six points to trim the deficit, 10-7. Helm started the run with a kill, followed by a service ace from Schrom. Junior
Carsyn Henschen would find the floor successfully before Helm and Henschen combined for a rejection. Henschen would cap the run with a successful swing. The two teams would trade the following six points before sophomore
Avery Hobson and Henschen registered kills and a Ramblers miscue tied the score at 13-all. After a bad set by Loyola Chicago knotted the score at 19-19, the Ramblers ended the match on a 6-1 stint to capture the win, 25-20.
SINGLE-SEASON RECORD
For the second straight match,
Ariel Helm has stamped her spot into the record book. Helm came into today's match just two blocks shy of the single-season blocks record. With her second block in the third set, Helm surpassed Monica Tinsley for the most rejections in a single season, a record that has been held for 19 years (2005). The Indiana native now has 128.0 total blocks on the season which ranks fifth in the country. The junior eclipsed 300 career blocks last night against Loyola Chicago after registering a solo block in the opening set to give the Dukes a 5-3 advantage. Helm currently ranks seventh in school history with 305.0 career blocks while her 57 career solo blocks, rank 10
th in program history.
INSIDE THE STAT SHEET
Avery Hobson paced Duquesne with eight successful swings and seven digs while
Carsyn Henschen and
Emersen Schrom each tallied seven kills. Schrom carded a team-best nine digs and three aces while
Grace Kristofic posted 25 assists, six digs, and a pair of blocks on Saturday.
UP NEXT
Duquesne concludes its homestand when it welcomes VCU on Friday, Nov. 8 and Saturday, Nov. 9, while celebrating Senior Day during Saturday's match, inside UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse.
