Morehead, Ky. - The Duquesne University volleyball team opened play at the Comfort Inn-Vitational on Friday, hosted by Morehead State, splitting a pair of matches. The Dukes dropped a 3-1 decision to the host Eagles before capturing a 3-0 sweep over Evansville. With the split, Duquesne holds a 6-2 (.750) overall mark this season.

Game 1 at. Morehead State
POINT OF EMPHASIS
In the opening stanza, Duquesne tallied a handful of errors while battling a .308 hitting percentage from the Eagles, to fall 25-17. In set two, the two squads traded the opening 12 points before being knotted up at 11-all. Graduate student Elizabeth Drelling collected five kills during the run while freshman Emersen Schrom found the floor successfully. Morehead State would string together a 9-2 stint to grab its largest lead of the set, 20-13. The Dukes would trim the deficit to 21-16 on a kill by sophomore Avery Hobson but the Eagles would net a 4-1 run to earn a 25-17 win and a 2-0 lead in the match.

BOUNCE BACK
It was a hot start for the Dukes in the third stanza, holding an early 7-3 advantage. Junior Ariel Helm carded 1.5 blocks while sophomore Jordan Robertson and Schrom each registered a successful swing. Morehead State would tie the score at 7-7 before Duquesne scored seven of the next 11 points to hold a 14-11 lead. Helm led the way with a pair kills while an ace and a block helped the Dukes during the run. Later in the set after a point by Robertson gave Duquesne a 19-16 advantage, the Dukes netted six of the final 10 points to take the set 25-20. Helm and Schrom would each tally a kill before back-to-back blocks from Schrom and Helm and Robertson and Drelling gave DU set point. Robertson would seal the set with her second kill of the run, off an assist from sophomore Chloe Wilmot.

INSIDE THE STAT SHEET
The Dukes were led by Schrom, who posted her fifth straight game with double-digit kills, ending with and tying her season-best with five blocks. She tallied two assists and two aces while hitting at a .294 percent clip. Drelling was the second Duke with double-digit kills, ending the day with 10 kills, four digs, two assists, two blocks, and an ace. Wilmot controlled the offense, posting her third double-double of the season with 21 assists and a team-leading 15 digs. Graduate student Grace Kristofic ended with 13 assists and eight digs while Hobson carded 14 digs on Friday. Junior Madison Grimm collected 13 digs while Robertson led the team with six rejections.

Game 2 vs. Evansville
It was a bounce back match for the Dukes as they used an impressive .308 hitting percentage for the match to capture the sweep over the Aces. It was a back-and-forth affair to begin set one as the two teams traded the opening 24 points. Evansville put together a 7-4 stint to take a 19-16 advantage but the Dukes responded with a 9-4 run to take the opening set, 25-23. Sophomore Avery Hobson sparked the stint with a kill, followed by an error by the Aces and a block from freshman Emersen Schrom and junior Ariel Helm. After Evansville netted three of the next four points, the Dukes took advantage of an Aces miscue followed by consecutive kills by graduate student Elizabeth Drelling and Schrom. An attacking error by Evansville gave Duquesne set point as Schrom finished it off with a successful swing.

SPIKING TO NEW HEIGHTS
The exchanging of points continued in set two as a successful swing by Drelling knotted the score at 19-all. Duquesne would keep the momentum as it launched a 6-1 spurt to take a 2-0 match advantage (25-20). Schrom would start the run with a kill, followed by an attacking error by the Aces. The Dukes collected three straight kills, two coming from Drelling and one from sophomore Jordan Robertson before a service error gave the Dukes the win.

Duquesne and Evansville continued to mirror each other in the third stanza, pulling to a 7-7 tie. The Dukes would jump out to a 14-11 lead, thanks to a 7-4 stint, where Hobson, Drelling, and junior Carsyn Henschen all found the floor successfully. Later in the set, the Dukes increased its lead to 18-16 before they scored five of the next six points to take a 22-17 advantage. Schrom collected a pair of kills while Henschen and sophomore Chloe Wilmot tallied a point. Evansville trimmed the deficit with a 5-2 burst but an attacking error gave the Dukes the sweep, 25-22.

INSIDE THE STAT SHEET
A pair of Dukes finished with double-digit kills in Schrom and Drelling. Schrom finished with a team-best 16 successful swings, on a .375 hitting percentage while tallying four digs and two blocks. Drelling collected 13 kills on a .423 swing percentage while recording four digs and three blocks. Hobson ended with seven kills and four digs while hitting at a .417 clip. Wilmot carded another double-double with 30 assists and team-leading 17 digs while Kristofic registered 11 assists and six digs.

UP NEXT
Duquesne concludes play at the Comfort Inn-Vitational on Saturday, Sept. 14, when it battles Eastern Michigan at 11:00 a.m.