Charleston, S.C. – The Duquesne volleyball team opened play at the Steve Baumrind Invitational on Friday, dropping a pair of matches. The Dukes battled Northern Kentucky in a five-set thriller before falling to host College of Charleston, 3-0, in the nightcap. With the two losses, Duquesne moves to 6-2 on the season.
MATCH 1 vs. NORTHERN KENTUCKY
DECISIVE SET
After the Dukes battled back to even the match at 2-2, Northern Kentucky jumped out to an early 6-2 lead in the decisive fifth set. Duquesne responded with a 6-4 run to pull within 10-8, highlighted by three kills from junior
Emersen Schrom, a service ace from sophomore
Alexa Flowers and a solo block from senior
Jordan Robertson. The Norse extended their lead to three before freshman
Londyn Stone trimmed the deficit to 12-10 with a kill. Northern Kentucky then scored three of the final five points to secure the 15-12 victory and take the five-set thriller.
BATTLED BACK
After dropping the opening two sets, the Dukes battled back in the third, taking advantage of a negative Northern Kentucky hitting percentage. Duquesne jumped out to an early 10-4 advantage behind four kills from four different Dukes, along with three blocks, including a pair from Robertson. The Norse responded with a 10-5 run to pull within 15-14 before Duquesne answered by scoring seven of the next nine points to regain control at 22-16. Robertson and Schrom each found the floor during the run, while Robertson and freshman
Londyn Stone teamed up for a block. Later in the set, freshman
Simone Searles and junior
Mirabella Iriarte combined for a rejection before Iriarte sealed the 25-18 victory with a kill.
WELCOME TO THE 300 CLUB
Senior
Jordan Robertson entered Friday morning's contest just six blocks shy of 300 for her career, and she did not disappoint. Robertson finished with a team-high eight blocks, including five block assists and three solo rejections, reaching the milestone in the fourth set against Northern Kentucky. With the feat, Robertson became just the eighth player in program history to surpass 300 career blocks and currently sits at 302. The Florida native has tallied 256 block assists in her career, good for seventh in Duquesne history, to go along with 46 solo rejections. Robertson also contributed five kills and three digs against the Norse.
INSIDE THE STAT SHEET
A trio of Dukes recorded double-doubles Friday morning, led by junior
Emersen Schrom, who notched her third kills-digs double-double of the season with 18 kills and 14 digs. She also added three service aces and two blocks. Freshmen
Simone Searles and
Londyn Stone each recorded the first double-doubles of their collegiate careers. Searles finished with 16 kills and 10 digs, while Stone posted a season-best 20 digs to go along with 12 kills. She also contributed four service aces and two blocks. Senior
Chloe Wilmot paced the Duquesne offense with a season-best 53 assists, while adding six digs, a career-high five aces and three blocks. Junior
Mirabella Iriarte chipped in five kills and four blocks.
MATCH 2 at COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON
Charleston came out swinging in the opening set, hitting .478 with 13 kills while recording six blocks. The two squads traded the first eight points before the Cougars used a 9-3 run to take a 13-7 advantage. Duquesne responded with four straight points, highlighted by kills from freshman
Simone Searles and junior
Emersen Schrom, to pull within two. Charleston answered with a 6-1 burst to push its lead to 19-12. The Dukes trimmed the deficit to four following a pair of Charleston miscues and a service ace from Schrom, but the Cougars closed the set strong, rattling off five consecutive points to secure a 25-17 victory.
STANZA TWO
After trading the first 16 points of the second set, the Cougars grabbed the lead with a 4-1 run to take a 12-9 advantage. Schrom and Searles answered with back-to-back kills before Charleston used a 7-2 burst to extend its lead to 19-13. A pair of successful swings from Stone and Schrom, coupled with a Cougar miscue, helped the Dukes trim the deficit to 20-16, but the home team once again closed the set strong, scoring five straight points to secure a 25-16 victory and take a 2-0 lead in the match.
INSIDE THE STAT SHEET
Schrom led the Dukes offensively with eight kills while adding seven digs, with Searles contributing seven kills. Robertson provided a strong presence at the net with five kills and three blocks, while Wilmot orchestrated the Duquesne attack with 21 assists and added a dig and a block.
UP NEXT
Duquesne wraps up competition in Charleston on Saturday, Sept. 12, taking on Notre Dame at 10:00 a.m.
