PITTSBURGH – The Duquesne volleyball team opens a three-match home stand to close the regular season this weekend, when the Dukes battle the top two teams in the Atlantic 10 standings in Saint Louis and Dayton. The Dukes (10-14, 4-7 A10) host the Billikens (14-9, 8-2) on Friday night at 7:00 p.m. at Mt. Lebanon High School and then return to the South Hills on Saturday night to face the first-place Flyers (17-7, 10-0 A10) at 7:30 p.m. Both matches will be streamed live on ESPN+.
THE SERIES: Saint Louis lead the all-time series with a 19-6 record against Duquesne, but the Dukes earned a 3-1 victory the last time the teams played in the Steel City on Oct. 7, 2018. Dayton leads 44-4 in the all-time series against the Dukes, with three of Duquesne's four wins coming in Pittsburgh.
QUICK HITS:
- The Dukes split its two road conference matches last weekend, as Duquesne fell to Fordham, 3-1, in the Bronx, but rallied to sweep Rhode Island in Kingston.
- After averaging an impressive 7.43 digs per set on the weekend, Ashley Larson was named the A-10 Co-Rookie of the Week. Larson came within one of tying the Duquesne four-set digs record with 30 digs against Fordham on Friday night. Larson supplied 22 digs in the victory over the Rams.
- Since Duquesne's first home conference matches at home on Oct. 4, Larson has averaged a stellar 5.45 digs per frame. The freshman would rank 12th nationally if she kept that pace all season.
- Larson's 4.82 digs per set in conference play ranks fourth best in the conference.
- Other standout Dukes in conference play include Ego Onu (.340 hitting percentage, 10th in A-10), Morgan Kelly (3.09 kills per set, ninth in A-10) and Hailey Poling (7.00 assists per set, sixth in A-10).
- Saint Louis enters the weekend 8-2 in the conference, with both losses coming on the hands of Dayton.
- Undefeated in A-10 play, Dayton battles La Salle on Friday night before crossing the Keystone State to play the Dukes. Dayton held a 10-match win-streak before falling to Cincinnati, 3-1, on Oct. 30.
