PITTSBURGH – The Duquesne volleyball team (12-15, 7-9 A-10) has earned the No. 5 seed in the Atlantic 10 Championship and will open play at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse on Friday, Nov. 19 against No. 4 seed Davidson (14-12, 10-6 A-10) in a first round matchup.

The match is scheduled to start at 2:30 p.m. and will broadcast live on ESPN+. The winner will advance to play top-seed Dayton (23-5, 16-0 A-10) in a semifinal round match on Saturday, Nov. 20 at 1:30 p.m.
 
SERIES BREAKDOWN VS. DAVIDSON

• All-Time Series: Duquesne leads, 8-4
• At the A-10 Championship: First meeting
• First Meeting: Aug. 30, 2003 at Duquesne – DU won 3-0 I Recap | Box Score
• Last Meeting: Oct. 22, 2021 at Davidson – DAV won 3-1 I Recap | Box Score
• Streak: Davidson, +1

SERIES BREAKDOWN VS. DAYTON

• All-Time Series: Dayton leads, 50-4
• At the A-10 Championship: Dayton leads, 3-1
• First Meeting: Sept. 15, 1990 at Duquesne – UD won 3-0
• Last Meeting: Oct. 3, 2021 at Dayton – UD won 3-0 I Recap | Box Score
• Streak: Dayton, +12

DUKES AT THE A-10 CHAMPIONSHIP

• The Dukes are making their 13^th appearance in the A-10 Championship and first since 2018.
• Duquesne is 5-12 all-time in A-10 Championship matches.
• The Dukes have never played Davidson in the A-10 Championship. The Wildcats joined the A-10 in 2014.
• Dayton and Duquesne have met four times, with the Flyers winning three of the four meetings.
• Duquesne's best finish at an A-10 Championship was in 2013 when the Dukes entered as the top-seed and defeated Dayton and VCU to claim the A-10 Title and the league's automatic qualifier into the NCAA Tournament.
• DU has lost each of its last five A-10 Championship matches and have not advanced past the first round since their run in 2013.
• Duquesne has been the No. 5 seed one other time. The Dukes were the fifth seed was in 2011 and went 1-1 at that event. That team defeated No. 4-seed George Washington in the first round, before bowing out to top-seed Dayton in the semifinals.
• This will mark the sixth time that the A-10 Championship will be held in Pittsburgh. Duquesne is winless in four appearances in the tournament when its been played in the Steel City.
• The last time the A-10 Championship was held in Pittsburgh was 2017. The Dukes lost in four sets to Rhode Island in a first round match that year.

QUICK HITS

• The Dukes enter the A-10 Championship with three wins in their final five regular-season matches.
• Duquesne closed out the regular-season last week with a narrow five-set loss at Saint Louis (Box Score).
• Summer Slade led the Dukes with a kill-dig double-double of 16 kills and a team-high 20 digs in setback.
• Slade ranks second on the team and seventh in the A-10 with 3.09 kills per set. She also slots second on the Dukes with 2.67 digs per set.
• Setter Hailey Poling leads the A-10 with 9.75 assists per set and 1,024 total assists. She established a career-high with 58 assists in a five-set loss to Akron in August.
• Poling became the first Dukes' player since Dani Suiter in 2017 to accumulate 1,000 assists in a single season.
• Morgan Kelly leads the team and ranks third in the A-10 with 3.48 kills per set.
• 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.
• Middle Hitter Anita Parrott ranks sixth in the A-10 with 0.97 blocks per set. Parrott has matched a career-high with nine blocks twice this season in matches versus Akron and Liberty.
• Libero Camille Spencer leads the team with 3.69 digs per set. She was one dig shy of a season-high when she collected 22 in a win over George Mason two weeks ago.

DUQUESNE HEAD COACH STEVE OPPERMAN (Ohio State '87)

• Steve Opperman is in his 24^th season as the head coach of the Dukes in 2021.
• He owns a career-record of 461-462 and a mark of 342-347 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 342 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 WILDCATS (ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATS)

• Davidson earned the No. 4 seed in the Atlantic 10 Championship after going 10-6 in A-10 play, 14-12 overall.
• It was the best finish since 2013 and best season in the Atlantic 10 in Davidson history.
• The Wildcats enter the tournament on a four-match winning-streak.
• Anela Davis ranks second in the A-10 with 1.13 blocks per set.
• Madeline Wynn is the reigning A-10 Defensive Player of the Week after averaging 1.71 blocks per set in wins over George Washington and George Mason.
• As a team, the Wildcats slot third in the league with 2.21 blocks per set.
• Bella Brady leads the A-10 and ranks 11th in Division I with 5.37 digs per set.
• Hattie Rodriguez leads the Wildcats offensive attack with 3.28 kills per set – good for fifth in the A-10 this season.

SCOUTING THE FLYERS (ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATS)

• The Flyers, who have won six of the last seven A-10 titles, enter the tournament as the No. 1 seed.
• Dayton is on a 17-match winning streak after posting a perfect 16-0 mark in A-10 play.
• The Flyers are 23-5 overall with losses to defending National Champion Kentucky, Wright State, Michigan and two losses to Wisconsin.
• The Flyers took undefeated and current AVCA No. 1 Louisville to five sets in an exhibition match in August.
• Dayton leads the A-10 and ranks 11^th in Division I with 1.97 aces per set.
• Two-time A-10 Player of the Year Jamie Peterson leads the A-10 and ranks 22^nd in Division I with 4.35 kills per set.
• Peterson also leads the A-10 and slots 38^th nationally with 0.43 aces per set.
• Peterson, who is a two-time AVCA All-American, tops the A-10 and ranks 14^th nationally with 5.22 points per set.
• Dayton leads the A-10 in blocks with 2.53 per set. Amelia Moore (1.23 per set) leads the league, while Alayna Yates (1.10) ranks third.