Pittsburgh, Pa. – The Duquesne volleyball team opened its three-match homestand Friday night with a straight-set victory over VCU in Atlantic 10 action inside UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse. With the win, the Dukes improve to 14-7 (.667) overall and 5-5 (.500) in conference play while recording their first-ever sweep of the Rams.
POINT OF EMPHASIS
Trailing 18-10 in the opening set, Duquesne mounted a comeback to secure a 25-23 victory. Following a timeout, the Dukes responded with a 6-1 run to cut the deficit to 19-16. Junior
Emersen Schrom opened the rally with a kill, followed by a successful swing from freshman
Maddie Bush. A VCU attacking error kept the momentum in Duquesne's favor before the Rams briefly halted the run. Freshman
Simone Searles followed with a kill before teaming up with Bush for a block. Schrom capped the run with an ace, forcing a VCU timeout. Out of the break, Searles found the floor with a kill before Schrom delivered another ace to pull the Dukes within one at 19-18. VCU responded with four consecutive points to build a 23-18 cushion, but Duquesne refused to back down, rattling off seven straight points to steal the opening set. The Dukes capitalized on three VCU miscues, while Bush and freshman
Londyn Stone each added a kill and senior
Jordan Robertson contributed a block to complete the comeback.
RIDING THE WAVE
The Dukes carried their momentum into the second set, posting a .318 hitting percentage with 18 kills to secure a 25-18 victory. Trailing 7-5 early, Duquesne erupted for an 8-1 burst to take a 13-8 lead and force a VCU timeout. Schrom contributed two kills during the stretch, while Bush added a successful swing and teamed up with Schrom for a block. The Rams battled back to cut the deficit to 15-13, but consecutive kills from Stone pushed the Dukes' advantage back to four. VCU managed another point before Stone delivered a kill and an ace, followed by a successful swing from Schrom, to extend Duquesne's lead to 20-14. The Rams refused to go quietly, stringing together a 4-1 run to pull within three at 21-18. However, Schrom took over down the stretch with three kills, while Bush added a point to seal the 25-18 win and give Duquesne a 2-0 lead in the match.
GET THE BROOMS AHT
For the first time in program history against VCU, the Dukes completed a sweep with a 25-21 victory in the third set. Duquesne jumped out to an early 10-5 lead, fueled by a pair of kills from Stone and points from Searles and Schrom, while Robertson added two solo blocks. VCU trimmed the deficit to 15-11 at the media timeout before pulling within two at 15-13. The Dukes responded with four consecutive points to build a 19-13 advantage, with Bush and Robertson each recording a kill while capitalizing on two Rams errors. Schrom kept the momentum rolling, helping Duquesne extend its lead to 23-17 before delivering a kill to put the Dukes at match point, 24-19. After VCU claimed two points, a Rams service error sealed the victory and completed Duquesne's straight-set sweep.
BY THE NUMBERS
Duquesne was led by
Emersen Schrom, who recorded her eighth double-double of the season with 14 kills and 10 digs while hitting at a .268 clip. She added two service aces and an assist while moving into eighth all-time in program history with 1,141 career kills.
Simone Searles narrowly missed a double-double, finishing with nine kills and 10 digs while adding a block.
Maddie Bush tallied a season-high seven kills and a block, while
Londyn Stone contributed seven kills and 13 digs.
Chloe Wilmot dished out 38 assists and added five digs, while
Jordan Robertson recorded five kills, four solo blocks and four digs. Senior
Delaney McIntosh led the Dukes with 13 digs and added three assists.
UP NEXT
Duquesne returns to action Saturday, Oct. 24, when it concludes its series against VCU inside UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse at 2:00 p.m.
