PITTSBURGH – The Duquesne volleyball team will travel to nearby Moon Township for the Robert Morris/Chick Fil-A Robinson Labor Day Classic on Friday and Saturday, Sept. 3-4 at the UPMC Events Center.
 
The Dukes will open play on Friday against Idaho at 12:30 p.m. and close out the day with a match against Liberty around 4 p.m. (Live Stats Only) Duquesne will conclude the event on Saturday at 2 p.m. with a match against host-Robert Morris at 2 p.m. (ESPN+).
 
SERIES BREAKDOWN VS. IDAHO

• All-Time Series: First Meeting

SERIES BREAKDOWN VS. LIBERTY

• All-Time Series: Tied, 1-1
• First Meeting: Aug. 30, 2002 at Duquesne – DU won 3-2 I Recap | Box Score
• Last Meeting: Aug. 25, 2007 at Liberty – Liberty won 3-1 I Recap | Box Score
• Liberty, +1

SERIES BREAKDOWN VS. ROBERT MORRIS

• All-Time Series: Duquesne leads, 34-9
• First Meeting: Sept. 10, 1986 at Robert Morris – DU won 3-0
• Last Meeting: Sept. 10, 2019 at Robert Morris – Robert Morris won 3-0 I Recap | Box Score
• Robert Morris, +1

DUQUESNE ALL-TIME IN MOON TOWNSHIP

• Duquesne holds an all-time record of 21-9 in matches played on the campus of Robert Morris, including a 17-5 mark against the Colonials on their home floor.
• The Dukes are playing in a multi-match event at Robert Morris for the third time in program history. Duquesne played in the RMU Invitational in 2018 and the Robert Morris Volleyfest in 1994.
• The Dukes took one out of three at the RMU Invitational in 2018. Duquesne lost matches to IPFW and Houston, before closing the event with a win over Eastern Michigan.

QUICK HITS

• Duquesne and Idaho will be meeting for the first time ever. The Vandals are the only first-time opponent this season for the Dukes and the 170^th unique opponent in program history.
• Duquesne and Liberty are meeting for the third-time ever and first time on a neutral site.
• Duquesne will play Robert Morris for the 44^th time – the most meetings against a non-conference opponent for the Dukes. Duquesne's 34 wins in the series are the most against a single non-conference opponent.
• Robert Morris' 3-0 win over Duquesne in 2019 was the teams' first meeting at the UPMC Events Center and snapped the Dukes' 11-match winning streak against the Colonials.
• Outside hitter Morgan Kelly led the Dukes with 3.67 kills per set (44 total) at the Youngstown State Invitational last week. She established a new career-high with 24 kills on 60 attacks (.217 hitting percentage) in a five-set loss to Akron.
• Kelly also chipped in 2.33 digs per set (28), including 18 versus Akron.
• Kelly, who was a member of the 2019 Atlantic 10 All-Rookie Team, led the team and ranked eighth in the A-10 with 2.96 kills per set in the spring 2021 season.
• Middle Hitter Anita Parrott finished with 1.42 blocks per set (17 total) over the past weekend at YSU and matched a career-high with nine against Akron.
• During the spring, Parrott started eight matches and ranked fourth in the Atlantic 10 with 1.11 blocks per set. She also led the team with a .253 hitting percentage this past spring.
• Setter Hailey Poling averaged 9.67 assists per set (116 total) and tossed around a career-high 58 in the loss to Akron.
• Poling started all nine matches and ranked eighth in the A-10 with 7.46 assists per set in the spring.
• Anna Shoemake led the team with a .333 hitting percentage this past weekend at YSU. The true-freshman finished with 2.17 kills per set (26 total), including a final line of 12 kills and six blocks versus Akron.
• Summer Slade collected a pair of kill-dig double doubles at YSU. She posted 10 kills and 11 digs in the win over YSU and finished with 11 kills and 17 digs versus Akron. Slade was one kill shy with nine and 11 digs against Saint Francis.
• Duquesne will play each of its first 13 matches on the road, including all 11 of its non-conference matches. The Dukes will play their home-opener on Friday, October 1 against Dayton at 7 p.m.
• The Dukes were picked to finish fifth in the annual Atlantic 10 Preseason Volleyball Poll.
• Duquesne is coming off of a 1-8 mark in the abbreviated spring 2021 season.
• Duquesne played eight of its nine matches this past spring against league frontrunners Dayton, VCU and Saint Louis.

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 451-451 and a mark of 332-335 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 332 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 VANDALS (ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATS)

• Idaho was tied for seventh in the Big Sky Preseason Volleyball Poll after going 6-11 during the spring 2021 season.
• The Vandals hosted the Idaho Volleyball Classic this past weekend and claimed one of the three matches. Idaho sandwiched a win over Nevada between losses to Portland and Grand Canyon.
• Delaney Nicoll and Allison Munday both each averaged 3.00 kills per set to lead the offense. Munday also posted a team-best nine blocks.
• Nikki Ball finished with 2.09 kills per set and added eight blocks in the three matches. Ball was an All-Big Sky Second Team selection in the spring after leading the conference with 1.39 blocks per set.

SCOUTING THE FLAMES (ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATS)

• Liberty was selected to finish sixth in the Atlantic Sun Preseason Coaches Poll after going 5-9 during the spring 2021 season.
• The Flames are opening their season in Moon Township after their home game versus East Carolina scheduled for Aug. 27 was canceled.
• Middle blocker Lydia Burts totaled 86 kills and had an ASUN-best 1.57 blocks per set last spring to earn an All-Conference Second Team nod. Her blocks-per-set average put her in the ASUN record book with the highest single-season mark in league history.
• Outside Hitter Trinity Watts was a member of the 2021 Spring All-Freshman Team. She totaled a team-high 137 kills. She finished the season ranked ninth in the ASUN with 2.91 kills per set.

SCOUTING THE COLONIALS (ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATS)

• Robert Morris was picked to finish ninth in the Horizon League Preseason Poll after posting a 4-12 record in the spring 2021 season.
• The Colonials opened the season with a trio of wins at the Fairleigh Dickinson Tournament last weekend. RMU defeated Maryland Eastern Shore, Manhattan and host-FDU to opend the season 3-0.
• Abby Ryan led Robert Morris with 3.60 kills per set, including 20 in the season-opening win over UMES. Ryan also led the team's defensive efforts with 2.90 digs per set over the weekend.
• The Colonials finished with 29 service aces in their three matches and rank 10^th in the NCAA with 2.64 service aces per set after one weekend of play.