LORETTO, Pa. (Sept. 7, 2010) - The Saint Francis women's volleyball team was impressive in the first set, but it was not enough to overcome their opponents as the Duquesne Dukes swept the Red Flash 3-0 (25-21, 25-13, 25-18) in DeGol Arena on Tuesday night.  The Red Flash fall to 2-5 overall, while the Dukes ascend to 6-2 overall; with five of those wins coming as 3-0 sweeps.

The Red Flash kept it tight in the first set, as the two teams were tied as late as 19-19.  However, the Dukes were able to bear down and put away the first set, and then controlled the rest of the match for the victory.

"We started out very strong, but we could not carry that momentum to the rest of the match," said Red Flash head coach Chuck Mullen.  "We needed a total team effort against a very strong opponent, and we weren't able to put it all together at the right time."

"We need to focus now and get back on track," said Mullen.

As stated, the Red Flash had a strong first set, going toe-to-toe with a team that has just two losses on the season - and one of those losses was to Wisconsin, a team ranked in the RPI Top 100 in NCAA Division I.  The Flash got two quick points to start, with Danielle Reese (Port Matilda, Pa./Bald Eagle Area) (Port Matilda, Pa./Bald Eagle) opening the scoring with a kill.  The Dukes responded with a 7-2 run to give themselves a lead, but Lauren Wingard (York, Pa./Dallastown Area) (York, Pa./Dallastown) stopped that with a kill, then combined with Kierstin Kiser (Clarion, Pa./Clarion) (Clarion, Pa./Clarion) for a block to make it 7-6 in favor of Duquesne.  The teams traded points, with the Red Flsah briefly taking a 19-18 lead on an attack error by the Dukes.  However, with the score tied at 19, Duquesne scored six of the next eight points for a 25-21 win.

In the second set, though, the Dukes would hold the lead coast-to-coast, opening the set on a Liz Homan kill.  That would spark a 10-3 run to start the set that wasn't broken until Rachel Capizzi (Saint Louis, Mo./Mehlville) (St. Louis, Mo./Mehlville) put a ball away to make it 10-4.  However, Alison Foschia would put away three of her team-high eight kills in the resulting plays, building the Duquesne lead to as many as 13 points before taking the set 25-13.

The Flash would start out the third set much better, scoring the first point on a Leeanne Haus (Mars, Pa./North Allegheny) (Mars, Pa./North Allegheny) ace.  While Duquesne would take a lead, the Red Flash kept things well in hand until the midpoint of the set, typically staying within two points.  Saint Francis tied it at 7-7 on a Lizzy Williams (North Bend, Ohio/Saint Ursula) kill, but the Dukes would never again relinquish their lead en route to the 25-18 win.

Wingard recorded a match-high 10 kills, and has only failed to record at least that many in one of seven matches this season.  Senior Lindsay Malloy (Gallitzin, Pa./Penn Cambria) (Gallitzin, Pa./Penn Cambria) added seven kills and 10 digs, while Williams also contributed seven kills to go along with one block.  Senior Christine Breisch (Edwardsburgh, Mich./Edwardsburgh) (Edwardsburg, Mich./Edwardsburg) had the team-high with 12 digs, and Kiser led in assists with 24.