Pittsburgh. Pa. – For the second consecutive day, the Dukes swept VCU with a straight-set victory on Saturday afternoon in Atlantic 10 play inside UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse. With the win, Duquesne improved to 15-7 (.682) overall and 6-5 (.545) in conference action while extending its winning streak to three matches.
POINT OF EMPHASIS
Behind a .324 hitting percentage and 15 kills, the Dukes closed the opening set on a late run to secure a 25-19 victory. Duquesne jumped out to an early 5-1 lead behind kills from three different players before VCU responded with an 8-1 stint to take a 12-9 advantage. The Dukes answered with a 9-2 surge to reclaim the lead at 18-14, as junior
Emersen Schrom paced the attack with three kills. Senior
Jordan Robertson and freshman
Londyn Stone each added a kill, while Stone also recorded an ace during the run. VCU battled back to even the score at 19-19, claiming five of the next six points, but Duquesne closed the set with six consecutive points. Stone sparked the decisive stretch with a kill, followed by a service ace from senior
Delaney McIntosh. Robertson then recorded a kill to force a VCU timeout. Out of the break, McIntosh delivered another ace before Robertson added a solo block and Stone capped the set with a kill to give the Dukes the win.
IN RHYTHM
VCU jumped out to an early 7-4 lead before extending its advantage to 10-7 in the second set. The Dukes responded with an 8-4 run to take a 15-14 lead, fueled by four kills from four different players and blocks from Robertson, Stone, freshman
Maddie Bush and senior
Chloe Wilmot. The teams traded the next 10 points before Duquesne closed the set with a 5-2 surge to secure a 25-21 victory. Freshman
Simone Searles opened the decisive run with a kill, and after a VCU point, Stone followed with a successful attack and a service ace to force a Rams timeout. VCU added another point out of the break, but Robertson answered with a solo block to give the Dukes set point before a Rams attacking error sealed the win. Duquesne hit an impressive .333 in the set and recorded six total blocks while limiting VCU to a .103 hitting percentage.
BUSINESS HANDLED IN THREE
The Dukes used an early surge to build a 12-6 lead before closing out a 25-20 victory in the third set to complete the sweep. Robertson led the early charge with two kills and 1.5 blocks, while Searles and Bush each added a point. Duquesne held a 15-12 advantage coming out of the media timeout before VCU claimed four of the next six points to trim the deficit to two. The Dukes responded by scoring five of the next six points, with Stone delivering a pair of kills and junior
Emersen Schrom adding a successful attack. The Rams countered with a 4-1 run to cut the deficit to 23-20, but Schrom delivered a kill to put Duquesne at match point before Searles and Bush teamed up for a block to seal the 25-20 win and complete the straight-set sweep.
QUOTABLE
"What a great weekend for this group," head coach
Steve Opperman said. "We played a pretty complete match two days in a row against a tough VCU team. We look forward to carrying this momentum forward."
BY THE NUMBERS
Junior
Emersen Schrom was the lone Duke to record double-digit kills, finishing with 12 kills, six digs and 1.5 blocks while hitting .333.
Londyn Stone added nine kills, three digs and a pair of service aces while hitting .304, while
Simone Searles tallied a team-high 15 digs to go along with eight kills. Senior
Chloe Wilmot orchestrated the offense with 30 assists and six digs, while senior
Jordan Robertson led the way at the net with a team-high six blocks, including five solo rejections, and six kills.
Delaney McIntosh chipped in a team-best three service aces and eight digs in the victory.
UP NEXT
Duquesne closes out its three-match homestand on Tuesday, Oct. 27, welcoming Dayton to UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse for a 5:00 p.m. Atlantic 10 matchup.
