PREVIEW: Volleyball Travels to George Mason

FAIRFAX, Va. – The Duquesne volleyball team is on the road again this weekend to take on George Mason on Friday and Saturday, with both matches starting at 5:00 P.M. ET.

Both matches will be available to stream on ESPN+ and live stats will be available.

SERIES BREAKDOWN VS. GEORGE MASON

All-Time Series: Duquesne is 10-7 all-time against George Mason.
First Meeting: Sept. 20, 1986 at GM – GM won 3-0
Last Meeting: Nov. 7, 2021 at DUQ – DUQ won 3-1 | Recap | Box Score
Streak: Duquesne, W4

THE DUKES

Duquesne is 4-17 overall and 1-8 in conference play. The Dukes split two matches with Rhode Island on the road last weekend.
Duquesne snapped out of a losing streak last Friday with a sweep of Rhode Island. It was its second sweep of the season and first since Sept. 16 against Purdue Fort Wayne.
Senior Morgan Kelly led the Duke with 11 kills in the 3-0 victory.
On Sept. 30 against George Washington, five different Duquesne players had double-digit kills for the first time all season.
Freshman Carsyn Henschen leads the team and ranks sixth in the A-10 with 209 kills.
Henschen was named to the Duquesne/RMU Invitational All-Tournament Team Sept. 3 after totaling 41 kills and seven service aces in the three matches.
Freshman Ariel Helm leads the team with 62 blocks this year, which ranks ninth in the conference.
Morgan Kelly leads the team with 2.71 kills per set. The senior returns after earning a spot on the Atlantic 10 All-Conference Second Team in 2021 after putting up 3.48 kills per set, which was the second-best in the conference.
Senior Anita Parrott was named to the Penn State Invitational All-Tournament Team the first weekend of the season. She recorded 15 kills and 1.1 blocks per set in the three matches.
Senior setter Hailey Poling is second in the conference with 655 assists and ranks second with 8.51 assists per set. She led the A-10 with 1,114 assists in 2021.
Freshman Madison Grimm leads the Dukes and ranks eighth in the conference with 263 digs. She has 16 games this season with 10 or more digs.
The Dukes are coming off of a 13-16 (7-9 A-10) season that ended in the A-10 Championship semifinals against the eventual-champion Dayton in a five-set thriller.
Three of the Dukes' top four point-getters return for the 2022 season.
Duquesne was picked to finish sixth in the A-10 by the league's coach in the 2022 Atlantic 10 Preseason Poll.

DUQUESNE HEAD COACH STEVE OPPERMAN (Ohio State '87)

Steve Opperman enters his 25^th season as the head coach of the Dukes in 2021.
He owns a career-record of 466-483 and a mark of 346-366 at Duquesne.
Opperman collected his 450^th-career victory with a 3-0 win over Youngstown State in the 2021 season opener.
The New Bremen, Ohio native is Duquesne's all-time winningest coach with 344 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 16 First or Second Team A-10 All-Conference players (a total of 24 times).
He has coached 23 A-10 All-Rookie Team members.
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 GEORGE MASON (ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATS)

George Mason is 5-15 overall and 1-8 in conference play. The Patriots are on an eight-match losing streak, with their last win coming against VCU on Sept. 23.
George Mason is tied with Duquesne for eighth-place in the A-10.
Sophomore Olyvia Kennedy leads the Patriots with 188 kills and 2.58 kills per set.
Freshman Gabriella Gelfound and sophomore Damiana Bova-Ford have split setting duties this season, as the former has 315 and the latter has 271. Gelfound leads the team with 22 service aces.
Graduate student Peyton Ehmke leads the Patriots in blocks with 72.
George Mason was picked to finish last in the conference this season.
In 2021, the Patriots went 5-22 overall and 3-13 in conference play.
Megan Shifflett Bachmann was named head coach of George Mason this summer after four years as an assistant coach at Towson.