Pittsburgh, Pa. – The Duquesne University volleyball team opened up a three-match homestand Tuesday night, defeating Mercyhurst in straight sets, 3-0 inside UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse in non-conference action. With the win, the Dukes jumped to 8-2 (.800) overall while improving to 4-0 at home.
POINT OF EMPHASIS
It was a slow start in the opening stanza for Duquesne as the Lakers took advantage of four miscues by the Dukes to hold an early 7-4 advantage. Duquesne would respond rather quickly as it strung together an 8-1 burst to hold a 12-8 lead and force a Mercyhurst timeout. Graduate student
Elizabeth Drelling sparked the run with three straight points, two coming from service aces while three other Dukes found the floor successfully. Later in the set, after another kill from Drelling, the Lakers scored five of the next seven points to trim the deficit, 19-16. Once again, the Dukes responded in a big way, ending the set on a 6-2 stint to take the opening stanza, 25-18. Sophomore
Avery Hobson started the run with a pair of kills, followed by two points from Mercyhurst. Duquesne ended the set with three consecutive successful swings, coming from juniors
Carsyn Henschen and
Ariel Helm as well as Drelling.
TRADING PUNCHES
The second set featured 15 ties and 10 lead changes as the two teams continued to exchange points. Duquesne jumped out to a 6-3 lead, thanks to five kills from five different Dukes and a block by freshman
Emersen Schrom and Helm. Mercyhurst would counter with a 6-3 stint of their own to knot the score at 9-9. The two squads would trade the next 14 points as a kill from Schrom tied the score at 16-all. Later in the set, after an ace by the Lakers gave them a 23-22 advantage, Schrom found the floor successfully as her and Helm registered a block to reclaim the lead for the Dukes. 24-23. Out of a Mercyhurst timeout, Helm collected her second block of the set to give Duquesne a 2-0 match lead.
THE ROUT IS ON
It was all Duquesne in the final set as it grabbed an early 12-4 advantage from five different successful swings from the Dukes. Drelling and Hobson led the way with two kills each while Helm tallied three solo blocks during the run. Duquesne would stretch its lead to 20-7 after netting eight of the next 11 points, thanks to a pair of kills from Hobson and Schrom. Sophomore
Chloe Wilmot collected an ace during the stint while Helm, Henschen and Schrom all tallied a block. After two points from the Lakers, Duquesne ended the match on a 5-2 run to claim the sweep.
INSIDE THE STAT SHEET
A pair of Dukes ended the evening with double-digit kills, led by
Elizabeth Drelling and
Avery Hobson. Drelling registered her first double-double of the season, ending with 10 kills and a team-leading 10 digs while carding a hitting percentage of .500. Hobson recorded 10 kills and seven digs while posting a season-high .556 hitting percentage. Both Drelling and Hobson tallied a pair of service aces.
Emersen Schrom ended with eight kills and two blocks while
Ariel Helm collected seven successful swings and season-high nine blocks. Helm tallied five block assists while totaling four solo blocks.
Chloe Wilmot finished with 20 assists and six digs while graduate student
Grace Kristofic ended with 18 assists and five digs.
UP NEXT
Duquesne returns to action this weekend when it hosts the Duquesne/Robert Morris Invitational on Friday, September 20 and Saturday, September 21. The Dukes battle Central Michigan on Friday before ending the invitational against Canisius on Saturday.
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