Duquesne, which opened the spring season on Feb. 12 vs. VCU, returns to action this weekend with matches at Dayton (Friday, Feb. 26 at 6:00 p.m.) and at Saint Louis (Sunday, Feb. 28 at 1:00 p.m.). Both will air on ESPN+.

THE SERIES VS. DAYTON

• Dayton was chosen as the overwhelming A-10 preseason favorite with eight of a possible 10 first place votes.
• This is the first home match for the Flyers who are off to a 2-1 start.
• UD is 0-1 in A-10 play with a loss at Saint Louis on Feb. 13 (L, 2-3).
• Dayton leads the series 45-4, including a 23-0 record in matches at UD.
• DU's last series win came on Nov. 23, 2013 at George Washington (3-1) in a semifinal match during the Dukes' run to the Atlantic 10 Championship.
• Dayton has won the past nine meetings.

THE SERIES VS. SAINT LOUIS

• Saint Louis was picked third in the A-10 preseason poll with 84 points, just three behind second-place pick VCU.
• The Duquesne match will be the 12th for the Billikens who have already faced three Atlantic 10 opponents in VCU, Davidson and Dayton.
• SLU is 4-1 in conference matches and 5-1 at home.
• The Billikens lead the series 20-6, including a 10-2 advantage in matches in St. Louis.

QUICK HITS

• Duquesne's season-opening match vs. VCU on Feb. 12 was DU's first on campus since 2018, as the team played its 2019 home matches at nearby Mt. Lebanon High School due to renovation of the on-campus UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse.
• Duquesne's remaining home matches will be played at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse which officially opened in early February.
• DU, playing without a true home venue, finished 10-17 in 2019. Duquesne returns over 75 percent of its kills, 57 percent of its assists and 94 percent of its digs from a year ago. The Dukes also welcome back four of their top five leaders in kills, the leader in total assists, and the top-five players in digs.
• Morgan Kelly, a 2019 Atlantic 10 All-Rookie Team pick, led the Dukes and ranked eighth in the A-10 with 3.00 kills per set during conference play. Other major contributors returning include: junior Summer Slade (2.64 kills/set, 3.0 digs per set), senior Maria Mosbacher (2.55 kills/set), sophomore Hailey Poling (5.26 assists/set, 2.43 digs/set), sophomore Ashley Larson (3.38 digs/set) and senior Claire Boe (3.21 digs/set).
• Olivia Alessi, Camille Spencer and Riley Speelman are freshman newcomers. Alessi and Spencer made their DU debuts vs. VCU.
• Morgan Kelly led the Dukes with 11 kills in the season-opening match vs. VCU. Ashley Larson paced DU with 11 digs.
• Duquesne head coach Steve Opperman, in his 30th season as a head coach (448-327), enters the weekend with 448 career victories. The winningest coach in DU volleyball history, Opperman is 329-327 in his 23rd season on the Bluff. He is a four-time A-10 Coach of the Year - 2001 (co-), 2004 (co-), 2010 (co-) and 2013. He guided the program to its first NCAA Championship appearance in school history in 2013. Opperman came to Duquesne in 1998 after seven seasons as head coach at Wright State.

2021 ATLANTIC 10 POD FORMAT
The Atlantic 10 has adopted a pod system for the spring season, with Duquesne placed in the West Pod with Davidson, Dayton, Saint Louis and VCU. Dayton, VCU and Saint Louis were picked to finish first, second and third in the Atlantic 10 preseason poll released in late January. The Dukes were tabbed fifth.