PITTSBURGH – The Duquesne volleyball team opens Atlantic 10 play on Friday, Sept. 24 when it travels to Fairfax, Virginia for a 7 p.m. match versus George Mason. The Dukes will then travel to nearby George Washington to close out the first week of conference play on Saturday, Sept. 25 at 5 p.m.
 
Both matches will broadcast live on ESPN+.
 
SERIES BREAKDOWN VS. GEORGE MASON

• All-Time Series: Duquesne leads, 8-7
• At George Mason: George Mason leads, 5-4
• First Meeting: Sept. 20, 1986 at George Mason – GMU won 3-0
• Last Meeting: Oct. 18, 2019 at George Mason – DU won 3-1 I Recap | Box Score
• Streak: Duquesne, +2

SERIES BREAKDOWN VS. GEORGE WASHINGTON

• All-Time Series: GW leads, 38-18
• At George Washington: GW leads, 21-6
• First Meeting: Oct. 24, 1986 at Duquesne – GW won 3-0
• Last Meeting: Oct. 19, 2019 at George Washington – GW won 3-0 I Recap | Box Score
• Streak: George Washington, +2

QUICK HITS

• The Dukes are taking on George Mason and George Washington for the first time since 2019. The teams were split in different divisions during the spring 2021 season and did not meet.
• DU is 8-2 in matches against George Mason since it joined the A-10 in 2013.
• George Washington is the Dukes second-most frequent opponent. Saturday's match will mark the 57^th meeting between the two teams. Duquesne's most-frequent opponent is Rhode Island with 58 matches against the Rams all-time.
• Duquesne is coming off of a two-game split at the Golden Flashes Invitational hosted by Kent State last weekend.
• The Dukes dropped the opener to Youngstown State 3-1 (Box Score), before rallying for a win over Kent State in five sets (Box Score) to close the event.
• In the win over Kent State, setter Hailey Poling guided the offense with 50 assists and also led the team's defensive efforts with 18 digs. She averaged 9.67 assists per set between the two matches and was later named to the All-Tournament Team.
• Poling currently leads the A-10 with 9.84 assists per set.
• Outside hitters Summer Slade and Morgan Kelly each finished with 14 kills against the Golden Flashes. Slade also chipped in 12 digs on defense for her fourth kill-dig double-double of the season.
• 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, who ranks second in the A-10 with 3.91 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 leads the A-10 and ranks 93^rd in the NCAA with 1.18 blocks per set. Her 52 total blocks are good for second in the league and 42^nd across Division I. Parrott has matched a career-high with nine blocks twice this season in matches versus Akron and Liberty.
• The matches this weekend will wrap up Duquesne's 13-match road-trip to open the 2021 season. The Dukes played all 11 of their non-conference matches on the road. Duquesne will play its home-opener on Friday, October 1 against Dayton at 7 p.m.
• 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 (4) then they did in the entire 2019 season.DU is 1-3 in five-set matches this season.

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 454-455 and a mark of 335-340 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 335 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 PATRIOTS (ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATS)

• George Mason enters the week with a record of 2-9, with both wins coming on their home floor.
• The Patriots opened the season with wins over American and Howard, before dropping their next nine matches.
• Mason is coming off of a visit to the Hokie Invite where they were defeated by Virginia Tech, North Carolina A&T and Wofford.
• Freshman Olyvia Kennedy (17) and senior Peyton Ehmke (14) combined for 31 kills in the five-set loss to Wofford.
• Kennedy leads the Patriots with 2.59 kills per set this season, while Ehmke ranks second with 2.41 per set.
• Kennedy earned A-10 Freshman of the Week laurels earlier this season after she averaged 3.43 kills per set in the team's opening week wins against American and Howard.

SCOUTING THE COLONIALS (ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATS)

• George Washington is winless in 11 matches this season entering the weekend slate. GW will face Dayton on Friday night prior to its match with Duquesne.
• The Colonials are coming off of a trip to the Mountaineer Invitational hosted by West Virginia. GW was defeated by UMBC and Robert Morris in three sets, but managed to take a set in a 3-1 loss to host-WVU.
• Salem Yohannes paced the Colonials with 13 kills in the loss to WVU. She leads the team with 2.95 kills per set.
• Defensively, Bella Bowman finished with a team-high 13 digs in the match with the Mountaineers. She slots fourth in the A-10 with 4.16 digs per set.

UP NEXT

• The Dukes will return home to play their home-opener against preseason A-10 favorite Dayton on Friday, Oct. 1 at 7 p.m. inside UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse.
• Duquesne and Dayton will square off again on Sunday, Oct. 3 in Dayton at 1 p.m.
• Both matches will broadcast on ESPN+.