PITTSBURGH – The Duquesne volleyball team (9-13, 4-7 A-10) heads out on the road for matches at Rhode Island (11-14, 3-6 A-10) and Fordham (6-15, 3-6 A-10) this weekend.

The Dukes will visit Kingston to take on the Rhode Island on Friday, Oct. 29 at 6 p.m., before closing out the trip at Fordham the following day at 6 p.m. in the evening. Both matches will broadcast live on ESPN+.
 
SERIES BREAKDOWN VS. RHODE ISLAND

• All-Time Series: Rhode Island leads, 38-21
• First Meeting: Oct. 11, 1986 at Rhode Island – URI won 3-0
• Last Meeting: Oct. 17, 2021 at Duquesne – URI won 3-1 I Recap | Box Score
• Streak: Rhode Island, +1

SERIES BREAKDOWN VS. FORDHAM

• All-Time Series: Duquesne leads, 37-6
• First Meeting: Oct. 7, 1995 at Fordham – DUQ won 3-0
• Last Meeting: Oct. 15, 2021 at Duquesne – DUQ won 3-1 I Recap | Box Score
• Streak: Duquesne, +1

QUICK HITS

• The Dukes sit in fifth place in the A-10 standings at 4-7, with both Fordham and Rhode Island tied for sixth place at 3-6 in league play.
• The top-six teams advance to the Atlantic 10 Championship on Nov. 19, hosted by Duquesne at the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse.
• Tickets for the event are available online.
• Rhode Island has defeated the Dukes in 20 out of the 28 all-time meetings in Kingston.
• Duquesne's loss to Fordham in 2019 broke a 20-match winning-streak that the Dukes held over the Rams which dated back to 2006.
• The Dukes are coming off of a pair of four-set losses to Davidson and VCU last weekend.
• Ashley Larson posted a career-high 12 kills to go with 13 digs in the loss at Davidson.
• Larson, who is traditionally a defensive specialist, had only one match with more than one kill in 56 career matches entering that weekend.
• The Dukes hung with the Rams through the first three sets on Sunday, including a 25-23 win in the third set.
• The Dukes finished with 12 blocks at VCU – the second-most in a single-match for DUQ this season. The Dukes are just 2-3 in the five matches in which they have finished with 10 or more blocks.
• Summer Slade led the team with 13 kills and was a dig shy of a double-double with nine digs.
• Slade ranks second on the team and ninth in the A-10 with 2.86 kills per set. She also slots second on the Dukes with 3.12 digs per set.
• Morgan Kelly leads the team and ranks fourth in the A-10 with 3.51 kills per set, but did not play in either match this past weekend.
• Earlier this season, Kelly broke a 22-year old Duquesne record for kills in a three-set match when she put down 20 in the win over Canisius (Box Score) at the Western NY Invitational.
• The previous record of 19 was set by both Anita Ball (09/04/99 vs. Bowling Green) and Mindy Buhrow (10/10/98 vs. Dayton).
• Kelly established a career-high with 24 kills on 60 attacks (.217 hitting percentage) in a five-set loss to Akron earlier this season.
• Setter Hailey Poling leads the A-10 with 9.62 assists per set and 807 total assists. She established a career-high with 58 assists in a five-set loss to Akron in August.
• The Dukes went with two setters this past weekend at VCU and Davidson. Riley Speelman led the team with 22 assists at VCU, while dished out 21.
• Middle Hitter Anita Parrott ranks fifth in the A-10 with 1.06 blocks per set. Parrott has matched a career-high with nine blocks twice this season in matches versus Akron and Liberty.
• Although she was held without a block for the first time this season last week at Davidson, she did turn in a season-high 10 kills against the Wildcats.
• Libero Camille Spencer leads the team with 3.71 digs per set. She matched a season-high with 23 in the loss at VCU.

DUQUESNE HEAD COACH STEVE OPPERMAN (Ohio State '87)

• Steve Opperman enters his 24^th season as the head coach of the Dukes in 2021.
• He owns a career-record of 458-460 and a mark of 339-345 at Duquesne.
• Opperman collected his 450^th-career victory with a 3-0 win over Youngstown State in the season opener.
• The New Bremen, Ohio native is Duquesne's all-time winningest coach with 339 career victories on The Bluff.
• He is a four-time Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year (co-2001, co-2004, co-2010 and 2013).
• Opperman coached the first two AVCA All-Americans in program history, Liz Homan (2010) and Arielle Love (2014).
• The Ohio State alum has coached 14 First or Second Team A-10 All-Conference players (a total of 22 times).
• He has coached 22 A-10 All-Rookie Team member.
• Opperman arrived in Pittsburgh in 1998 after spending seven seasons as the head coach at Wright State, where he amassed a record of 119-116 from 1991-97.

SCOUTING THE RHODE ISLAND RAMS (ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATS)

• The Rams are coming off of a weekend split in the D.C. area. Rhode Island was swept at George Mason, before recovering with a three-set win over GW the following day.
• Rhode Island has played in a league-high 87 sets entering the weekend, but only two five-set matches.
• Three Rhode Island players rank among the top-20 in the A-10 in kills per set, including Brynne Wright (13th/2.62), Jamie Smith (15th/2.45) and Claire Wagner (19th/2.32).
• Ella Ratzloff leads the team and ranks second in the league with 4.68 digs per set.
• She is the reigning A-10 Defensive Player of the Week after posted 6.33 digs per set.

SCOUTING THE FORDHAM RAMS (ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATS)

• Fordham snapped a three-match losing-streak with a 3-0 win over GW last Saturday. The Rams fell to George Mason in four sets Friday night.
• Fordham is playing in its home venue for just the fifth and sixth times this season. The Rams enter the weekend 3-1 when playing in the Bronx.
• Whitley Moody leads the Rams and ranks third in the A-10 with 3.62 kills per set.
• The 2020 A-10 Rookie of the Year posted a match-high 12 kills in the win over GW and 15 in the loss at Mason.
• She has been limited to under 10 kills just three times this season (New Mexico, VCU, GW).
• Bella Urena ranks second on the team and 12^th in the A-10 with 2.70 kills per set.
• Mallory Lipski ranks third in the A-10 with 4.67 digs per set.
• Megan Brzozowski slots third in the league with 8.90 assists per set.