Duquesne will be looking for a measure of revenge when it hosts Atlantic 10 preseason favorite Dayton in a pair of weekend matches beginning Friday at 6:00 p.m. at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse.

The Dukes (1-6, 1-6), who will also face the Flyers (7-1, 4-1) at 4:00 p.m. on Saturday, will be looking to avenge a 3-1 defeat (16-25, 15-25, 28-26, 17-25) at UD on Feb. 26.

Saturday will mark the final home match for DU seniors Claire Boe and Maria Mosbacher who will be recognized in a pregame ceremony.
 
The weekend matches, both of which will be streamed on ESPN+, will conclude the abbreviated spring regular season for the Dukes.

This weekend's matches will not be open to the general public, as a small number of tickets will be allotted to the Duquesne team only.


THE SERIES VS. DAYTON

• Dayton was chosen as the overwhelming A-10 preseason favorite with eight of a possible 10 first place votes, has won its past four conference matches after dropping the opener at Saint Louis (2-3).
• Duquesne (28-26 in set two) is the last A-10 school to win a set vs. the Flyers who have swept Davidson twice and VCU once since the Feb. 26 meeting with the Dukes.
• Duquesne hit a season-best .254 in the match at Dayton.
• Dayton leads the series 46-4, including a 20-3 record in matches in Pittsburgh.
• 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. Duquesne also defeated Dayton during the 2013 regular season by a 3-1 score at home on Oct. 26.
• Dayton has won the past 10 meetings.

QUICK HITS

• Sophomore Morgan Kelly has had 11 or more kills in a match three times: 16 at Dayton (4s), 12 vs. Saint Louis (4s) and 11 vs. VCU (3s), ranks 10th in the A-10 in kills with 68 (2.96/set).
• Sophomore Hailey Poling, who has led the Dukes in assists in every match (176 on the season), ranks 8th in the conference with at 8.00 assists/set.
• Sophomore Anita Parrott has posted all of her team-high 25 blocks in DU's past five matches, including a season-high nine vs. Saint Louis on Mar. 5, is fourth in the A-10 at 1.14 blocks/set.
• DU'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.
• DU, playing without a true home venue, finished 10-17 in 2019. 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 in the opener vs. VCU, while Speelman saw her first action at VCU on Mar. 14.
• Duquesne head coach Steve Opperman, in his 30th season as a head coach (449-332), enters the weekend with 449 career victories. The winningest coach in DU volleyball history, Opperman is 330-332 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 POD FORMAT

• The Atlantic 10 adopted a pod system for the spring season, with Duquesne placed in the West Division 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, one point ahead of Davidson.
• The top four teams will compete for the A-10 Championship at the site of the highest seed on April 2-3.