Pittsburgh, Pa. – A match that featured 41 ties and 13 lead changes, the Duquesne University volleyball team fell in a five-set thriller to VCU on Friday night, inside the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse. With the slip, the Dukes fall to 13-14 overall, with a 4-11 mark in Atlantic 10 action.
DECIDING SET
After tying the match by winning set four with a count of 26-24, Duquesne forced a fifth set and took an early 8-4 advantage. Juniors
Ariel Helm and
Carsyn Henschen and freshman
Emersen Schrom all registered a kill during the stint while Schrom collected an ace and Helm registered a solo block. The Rams wouldn't shy away as they strung together a 6-1 run to take the lead 10-9 and force a Dukes timeout. Out of the break, Schrom would find the floor successfully to knot the score at 10-10 but VCU mounted a 5-2 burst to claim the set, 15-12.
OFF TO A HOT START
The Dukes came out swinging early in the opening stanza, recording 16 kills and a .324 swing percentage, in claiming a 25-23 set victory. Duquesne held an early 10-6 advantage, thanks to three kills from Schrom, a pair of successful swings from sophomore
Jordan Robertson, and a point from Helm and Henschen. Later in the set, the Dukes would grab a 17-11 lead off two kills from graduate student
Elizabeth Drelling before securing a 19-13 advantage of back-to-back miscues from VCU. Out of a Rams timeout, sophomore
Avery Hobson found the floor successfully before VCU strung together a 10-4 stint to trim the deficit, 24-23. Drelling would seal the deal for the Dukes, with her eighth kill of the set.
TRIO OF DOUBLE FIGURES
Three Dukes finished with double digit kills tonight, led by
Elizabeth Drelling. She registered a new season-high with 19 kills while producing a .351 swing percentage. It's the 17
th time this season Drelling has finished with double figure kills and the third time in the last four contests.
Ariel Helm recorded a career-high 13 successful swings and an impressive .600 hitting percentage. It's the sixth time she's finished with 10+ kills while collecting a pair of solo blocks.
Emersen Schrom is the final Duke in double figures, tallying 12 kills, three digs, two blocks, and an ace. Schrom has now finished in double figures for the 16
th time this season.
INSIDE THE STAT SHEET
Sophomore
Chloe Wilmot controlled the offense with 35 assists while carding three digs and a pair of blocks. Graduate student
Grace Kristofic produced 25 helpers and seven digs while junior
Madison Grimm collected 11 digs and three assists. Freshman
Tori Newton finished with a season-high three service aces and 10 digs while
Avery Hobson tallied 12 digs and eight kills.
Jordan Robertson led the team with three blocks and registered seven kills on Friday.
UP NEXT
Duquesne wraps up its home portion of its schedule when it battles VCU on Saturday, Nov. 9 at 4:00 p.m. inside UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse. The Dukes will celebrate Senior Day before the match with a pregame ceremony.
