Washington, D.C. – The Dukes rally fell short on Saturday afternoon as they dropped a five set thriller at George Washington in its regular season finale. With the loss, the Duquesne volleyball team finished the regular season with a 17-12 overall mark and 9-9 in Atlantic 10 play.

POINT OF EMPHASIS
After dropping the opening two sets, the Dukes battled its way back to force a deciding set. Duquesne jumped out to an early 4-2 advantage, thanks to three kills from three different Dukes and a block from senior Carsyn Henschen and junior Jordan Robertson. The Revolutionaries responded in a big way, stringing together a 9-2 run to take an 11-6 lead. Sophomore Emersen Schrom halted the stint with a successful swing before cutting the deficit to 14-10 with another kill. Sydney Hasenfratz sealed the match for George Washington with her 15^th kills of the afternoon, 15-10

ROAD WARRIORS
Duquesne rallied in the third and fourth frames, starting with an 8–4 run in a tightly contested third set to take a 25-22 win. Tied at 18-18, Schrom ignited the surge with a kill, followed by an attacking error, back-to-back service aces from junior Chloe Wilmot, and a block from junior Kylie Griffin and Robinson to push the Dukes ahead, 22–18. George Washington answered with three straight points to pull within one, but Henschen halted the momentum with a kill. A bad set by the Revolutionaries and a final put-away from Schrom closed out the frame. Duquesne carried that rhythm into the fourth set, hitting .316 with 15 kills en route to a 25–18 victory. After the teams were tied at 13–13, Schrom led a decisive 7–1 burst that opened a 20–14 lead, notching three kills during the stretch while Henschen and senior Ariel Helm also connected. The teams traded the next six points before junior Kylie Griffin delivered set point with a kill. George Washington added one more point, but an attacking error sealed the match for the Dukes.

UNMATCHED FIREPOWER
Entering Saturday's match, sophomore Emersen Schrom needed just 10 kills to become Duquesne's all-time single-season kills leader and she wasted no time getting to work. After recording five kills over the first two sets, the Pittsburgh native caught fire in the third, delivering eight kills on a .429 clip to cement her place in the program's record book. She closed the day with 24 kills and five digs, marking her ninth match this season with 20 or more kills. Schrom now sits atop the conference with 485 kills on the year, surpassing Amanda Haeg's previous single-season mark of 470 set in 2006. The sophomore ends the regular season averaging 4.98 points, 4.37 kills, and 2.61 digs per set.

INSIDE THE STAT SHEET
Carsyn Henschen finished the day with 11 kills and three blocks while Kylie Griffin carded a season-high 10 kills and one rejection. Junior Chloe Wilmot paced the offense with 42 assists, six digs, and four blocks while senior Madison Grimm posted a team-high 18 digs, five assists and one ace on Saturday. Classmate Hanna Wilson finished with 11 digs and one assist for the Dukes.

UP NEXT
Duquesne now turns its attention to the Atlantic 10 Championship in Richmond, Va., entering the tournament as the No. 6 seed. The Dukes will open play on Friday, Nov. 21, at 3:30 p.m.