PITTSBURGH – The Duquesne volleyball team (7-8, 2-2 A-10) will play a trio of home matches, starting on Friday, Oct. 8 against Saint Louis. The Dukes will host VCU on Saturday, Oct. 9 at 5 p.m. (live stats only) and wrap up the weekend with Davidson on Sunday, Oct. 10 at 1 p.m.
 
The matches against Saint Louis and Davidson will air on ESPN+.
 
SERIES BREAKDOWN VS. SAINT LOUIS

• All-Time Series: Saint Louis leads, 22-6
• First Meeting: Sept. 30, 2005 at Duquesne – DU won 3-0 I Recap | Box Score
• Last Meeting: March 5, 2021 at Duquesne – SLU won 3-1 I Recap | Box Score
• Streak: Saint Louis, +4

SERIES BREAKDOWN VS. VCU

• All-Time Series: VCU leads, 14-6
• First Meeting: Sept. 17, 1993 at Saint Francis – DU won 3-1
• Last Meeting: March 15, 2021 at VCU – VCU won 3-0 I Recap | Box Score
• Streak: VCU, +9

SERIES BREAKDOWN VS. DAVIDSON

• All-Time Series: Duquesne leads, 8-3
• First Meeting: Aug. 30, 2003 at Duquesne – DU won 3-0 I Recap | Box Score
• Last Meeting: March 7, 2021 at Duquesne – DU won 3-0 I Recap | Box Score
• Streak: Duquesne, +1

QUICK HITS

• Duquesne kicks off a five-game homestand this weekend.
• The Dukes have only played one match at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse so far this season. DU opened the season with seven true-road matches and six neutral-site contests.
• Each of the Dukes' opponents this weekend rank in the top-three of the A-10 in kills per set. Saint Louis (12.48) leads the A-10, while VCU (11.73) and Davidson (11.62) rank second and third, respectively.
• Duquesne ranks fifth in the A-10 with 10.86 kills per set.
• Saint Louis is allowing a league-low 11.20 kills per set. Duquesne ranks third in the category with 11.88 opponent kills per set.
• Saint Louis leads the A-10 with 2.03 service aces per set, while Duquesne is allowing a league-high 2.49 aces per set.
• Duquesne has lost nine-straight matches against VCU. The last time the Dukes defeated the Rams was a 3-1 win in 2016.
• The Dukes are 5-1 against Davidson when playing on their home court. The only time the Wildcats have gone on the road and defeated Duquesne was in 2019 when DU played its home matches at Mount Lebanon High School.
• The Dukes enter the weekend slate after dropping both of their meetings with Dayton this past weekend.
• Duquesne was defeated 3-0 in each match. Including the matches with Dayton, only three of the Dukes' eight losses this season have been in three sets (Sept. 10 at Buffalo).
• Setter Hailey Poling remains atop the A-10 with 9.55 assists per set and 554 total assists. She established a career-high with 58 assists in a five-set loss to Akron in August.
• Earlier this season, Morgan 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, who ranks fifth in the A-10 with 3.68 kills per set, established a career-high with 24 kills on 60 attacks (.217 hitting percentage) in a five-set loss to Akron earlier this season.
• Middle Hitter Anita Parrott ranks fourth in the A-10 with 1.07 blocks per set. Parrott has matched a career-high with nine blocks twice this season in matches versus Akron and Liberty.
• Three of Duquesne's six losses have come in five sets. After not playing any five-set matches in the spring, the Dukes have already played in as more five-set matches this season (5) then they did in the entire 2019 season.DU is 2-3 in five-set matches this season.
• The Dukes are once again teaming up with the Side-Out Foundation to help raise money for breast cancer research.
• Duquesne has set a goal of $2,000 and is reaching out to alumni, friends, family and fans for donations to help the team reach its goal.
• This season's Dig Pink® match will be Oct. 17th against Rhode Island.

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 456-457 and a mark of 337-342 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 337 career victories.
• 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 BILLIKENS (ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATS)

• Saint Louis enters the match unbeaten in four A-10 matches this season and 11-6 overall.
• The Billikens defeated Rhode Island and Fordham last week.
• Three-time all-conference honoree Maya Taylor has been named the A-10 Offensive Player of the Week each of the past two weeks.
• Taylor ranks second in the A-10 and 53^rd overall with 3.92 kills per set.
• Kate Aupperle is the reigning A-10 Rookie of the Week. Aupperle leads the team with 6.47 assists per set.
• SLU ranks second in the NCAA with 132 total service aces and 11th nationally with 2.03 aces per set.
• Emily Henken leads the A-10 and slots 16^th in Division I with 0.53 aces per set.
• Jillian Mattingly enters the weekend leading the A-10 with 1.19 blocks per set.

SCOUTING THE RAMS (ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATS)

• The Rams enter the weekend slate 8-9 overall and 4-1 in A-10 play.
• VCU will entertain Dayton in a match on Thursday night ahead of their meeting with the Dukes.
• The Rams lead the A-10 and rank 84^th in the NCAA with a 0.233 hitting percentage.
• VCU slots second behind Saint Louis with 12.79 kills per set.
• Qairo Bentley leads the team and slots seventh in the A-10 with 3.08 kills per set.
• The Rams will rotate their setters. Dani Jo David, Katrina Davis and Corinna Jones have each posted over 20 assists in a match this season.

SCOUTING THE WILDCATS (ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATS)

• Davidson enters the weekend 8-7 overall and 4-1 in A-10 play.
• The Wildcats have won each of its last four matches, including 3-0 sweeps over Rhode Island, GW and George Mason.
• Davidson is 6-1 in matches on its home floor and winless in four true-road contests.
• The Wildcats will go on the road to take on Dayton on Saturday, prior to their match at Duquesne on Sunday.
• The Wildcats lead the A-10 and rank 10^th nationally with 17.79 digs per set.
• Bella Brady sits atop the league leaders and ranks fifth in Division I with 5.67 digs per set.
• Hattie Rodriguez leads the team and slots third in the A-10 with 3.69 kills per set.
• Isabel Decker also ranks among the top-10 in the league with 2.73 kills per set.