PITTSBURGH – The Duquesne women's volleyball team is set to play in the first-ever volleyball match at PPG Paints Arena on Friday, when the Dukes battle Green Bay to open the ChamYinz Volleyball Invitational at 5:30 p.m. Pitt and Ohio State will conclude the action at PPG Paints Arena, with the match slated to start at 8:00 p.m. Both matches at PPG Paints Arena will be broadcasted on ESPN+.
The invitational will move to Fitzgerald Field House on Saturday, as the Dukes will take on Ohio State at 11:00 a.m. and then No. 10 Pitt at 8:00 p.m. The Duquesne-Pitt matchup will be broadcasted on ACC Network Extra.
"It's going to be a great experience," said Duquesne volleyball head coach
Steve Opperman. "Not only for our student-athletes, but for all of student-athletes that get to participate. I think it's exciting for our fans and we're hoping to use that as has momentum to build into the women's national championships in December."
Day one of the ChampYinz Volleyball Invitational serves as a precursor to the 2019 NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championship which will be hosted by Duquesne University, SportsPITTSBURGH and PPG Paints Arena on Dec. 19 & 21.
For tickets for day one of the ChampYinz Volleyball Invitational at PPG Paints Arena,
click here. For tickets for day two at Fitzgerald Field House,
click here.Â
THE SERIES
- Duquesne will play Green Bay (4-0) for the first time in program history on Friday.
- The Dukes have faced Steve Opperman's alma mater Ohio State twice prior to this weekend, with the Buckeyes picking up both wins in 2008 (3-0) and 1996 (3-2).
- Â Duquesne and Pitt will meet for the first time since 2015 on Saturday. The two squads have split the last six meetings, with the Dukes earning a sweep of the Panthers in their last victory over Pitt at the AJ Palumbo Center.Â
QUICK HITS
- The Dukes earned wins in two of their three matches last weekend at the UNCW Hampton Inns Invitational, downing Charleston Southern (3-1) and North Florida (3-0), before falling to tournament host UNCW in the final match.
- Liz Wayne and Maria Mosbacher both landed on the all-tournament team. Wayne tallied 30 kills in the three matches, hitting at a .423 clip. Mosbacher connected on 28 kills herself, earning her 500th career kill against the Seahawks. Â
- Clair Boe led the way with 39 digs last weekend (3.90 d/s). Â
- Summer Slade posted a double-double against Charleston Southern. She added four service aces to lead the team.
- Dani Suiter posted 58 assists over the three matches, while Hailey Poling added 39.
- Green Bay went a perfect 4-0 at the GBD invite, earning wins over Northeastern, Ohio, Fresno State and Indiana State to begin the year.
- Ohio State also hosted a tournament last week, defeating both Lehigh and VCU but dropped a matchup to Texas Tech.
- Pitt went unscathed last weekend at its Panther Challenge, sweeping Cleveland State, Cincinnati and South Carolina.
