Loyola Women’s Volleyball Takes Duquesne in Five Set Match

The Loyola women’s volleyball team (14-11, 12-2) put up their dukes in a hard-fought five set game against A-10 rival Duquesne University (10-12, 5-9) Oct. 28.

This was the teams’ second matchup during the university’s Alumni Weekend, with the Ramblers sweeping the Dukes the evening before. It was Loyola’s first five set game since Sept. 29 at Davidson College — the first win of their current 12-game win streak.

Head coach Amanda Berkley said Duquesne made it tough for Loyola but she was proud of how the team pushed through.

“That’s something that we needed,” Berkley said. “We need to be able to respond a little better in the moments to make our plays better.”

The game started with a serve from third-year setter Bree Borum and an eventual kill from graduate middle blocker Taylor Venuto, but that would be Loyola’s only lead in the first set. 

Duquesne’s outside hitter second-year Carsyn Henschen showed the team was out for revenge with a quick kill. The Dukes’ strong blocking set the tone for the entire first set.

A service ace by third-year outside hitter Olivia Lovett tied the game at 7-7, but Duquesne immediately responded and shot out to a 7-9 lead.

The Ramblers continued to fight despite playing from behind. Borum made a diving save and fourth-year outside hitter Karlie McNabb tipped it over the net, but it just wasn’t enough as Duquesne pulled out to a 8-12 lead. 

There were glimmers of hope throughout the set but when Berkley got a yellow card for arguing a call and Duquesne scored on the following play to make it 14-17, the team wouldn’t recover. 

Even with two digs from McNabb on the last rally, Duquesne secured the set 18-25.

Loyola got out to a quick 4-1 lead in the second set after Venuto and fourth-year right side hitter Emily Banitt blocked a ball and gave Duquesne a taste of their own medicine.

It seemed Berkley and the team had made the adjustments necessary during the break, evading the outstretched arms of the Duquesne defenders. 

“We started to get a little more creative with shot selection and where we could score,” Berkley said post-game. “We just had to find a way to hit away from them and hit higher.”

Two kills from fourth-year right side hitter Anna Feldkamp, an ace from graduate outside hitter Addie Barnes and a point from Borum forced the stunned Dukes to call a timeout, down 10-4.

A service error by Barnes gave Duquesne fans a sigh of relief down 12-5, but Borum continued to work around the height of their blockers, getting another kill.

Now down 17-7, Duquesne couldn’t find their footing and called another timeout.

Barnes continued to take flight, getting successive kills, and Feldkamp created an unstoppable wall, getting a combined block with Barnes and her own just after.

Borum got the final kill of the set as Loyola won 25-10.

In what would prove to be the most competitive set of the afternoon, the two teams quickly tied 4-4 after a block from Venuto and fantastic communication led to a kill from Barnes.

After Loyola called a timeout down 5-8, the set began to feel like a repeat of the first when the Ramblers couldn’t block Duquesne first-year middle blocker Jordan Robertson’s spikes.

McNabb scored three consecutive points with two kills and an ace, but her streak was immediately shut down by Henschen, making it 12-16.

The set was tightest at 16-17 after fantastic play from Duquesne second-year libero Madison Grimm that was null and voided by a Barnes kill.

Loyola didn’t make the win easy for Duquesne, but multiple attacks from the Ramblers were blocked by the Dukes’ defensive wall. Banitt managed to get a kill through, making it 20-24. A final kill from Dukes second-year middle blocker Ariel Helm ended the set 20-25 for Duquesne.

A beautiful back-and-forth in the fourth set finished when Grimm’s attack led to an error, followed immediately by a Barnes kill on the next play, tying the score at three.

A Banitt kill and Lovett ace put the Ramblers up 7-5, followed by a Dukes return error to make it 8-5 before Duquesne called a timeout.

Minutes later, Duquesne fell further behind and called their second timeout of the set, now down 17-14.

Out of the timeout, an incredible rally led to a leaping save in the back right court from Barnes, followed by a block from Venuto and Banitt.

Loyola continued to control the set, reaching 24 points with ease. The Dukes fought through two set point rallies before the Ramblers closed out the set 25-19 with a Feldkamp kill in center court. 

With the match tied 2-2, another block from Banitt and Venuto gave the Ramblers the first point of the last set. Banitt then got three back-to-back for Loyola, giving them a 4-1 lead. She ended the game leading the team in kills with 18.

A kill from Duquesne’s Henschen slowed momentum making it 4-2, but Banitt struck right back, and Loyola continued to control the set.

After the mid-set side switch, Duquesne forced Loyola to call a timeout with two service aces, with the Ramblers still up 10-8.

Back-to-back kills from McNabb got the ball rolling again for the Ramblers until a final block by Borum ended the game 15-8.

Nine of the last 10 games the team has played have been sweep wins, and Berkley said she was glad a challenge like this game came at this point in the season.

“This actually is definitely very good for us to be challenged like this, because typically we can score a lot of points with our serve and so it was nice to work on defending and defending a good team,” she said. “I think it exposed some things that we’ve got to work on this next week.”

The Loyola women’s volleyball team will continue their stretch of A-10 play in New York City against Fordham University Nov. 3 at 5 p.m. and Nov. 4 at 1 p.m. Broadcast information has yet to be announced.

Featured image by Allison Treanor | The Phoenix