Flash Points:
- Kelsey Roush (Johnstown, Pa./Richland) led the Flash with 10 kills and 12 digs.
- Elise Dumouchelle (Ashburn, Va./Broad Run) had a pair of aces.
- SFU plays Buffalo at Duquesne at 11 a.m. before playing Coppin State at Robert Morris at 4 p.m.
PITTSBURGH – Kelsey Roush (Johnstown, Pa./Richland) recorded a double-double for the Saint Francis women's volleyball team, but the Red Flash fell to Duquesne in straight sets on the first day of the Duquesne/Robert Morris Invitational. The Dukes won 25-13, 25-22, 25-19. Roush finished with 10 kills and 12 digs.
Duquesne (4-2) jumped on SFU in the first set, hitting .500 to SFU's .080. The Dukes jumped out to a 10-3 lead before Saint Francis rattled off four straight points, sparked by a kill and an ace by Roush. A kill by
Emily Marcinowski (Strongsville, Ohio/Padua Franciscan) cut the Duquesne lead to 14-9, but the Dukes went on to score nine of the next 11 points to lead, 23-11.
Saint Francis (1-4) picked up on the defensive side in the second set. The Red Flash held the Dukes to a .135 hitting percentage while recording 12 kills to Duquesne's nine. Roush had the first three points of the set for SFU, twice set up by
Amelia Metzler (Littleton, Colo./Chatfield) and once by
Jenna Veres (Independence, Ohio/Padua Franciscan). After Duquesne took a 6-3 lead, the Flash went on a 7-1 run sparked by two aces from
Elise Dumouchelle (Ashburn, Va./Broad Run) and kills from Metzler and
Sophie Murdock (Lake Orion, Mich./Lake Orion ). Trailing 20-18, SFU used a service error to start a 3-0 stretch with kills by Marcinowski and Murdock. Trailing 21-20, Duquesne scored five of the next six points with the help of three SFU attack errors to win game two, 25-22.
The first 30 points of game three were split, 15-15, as
Breanna Opera (Lancaster, N.Y./Lancaster ) had back-to-back kills to pace SFU through the early part of the set. Duquesne scored the next four points to make it 19-15 as it held the lead through the rest of the game to take the match.
Marcinowski finished with seven kills and nine digs while Opera had six kills. Veres had 10 digs and five assists. Metzler had 20 assists.
Saint Francis has two matches in different locations on Saturday. SFU plays Buffalo at Duquesne at 11 a.m. before playing Coppin State at Robert Morris at 4 p.m.
