PREVIEW: Volleyball Returns Home to Host George Washington

PITTSBURGH – The Duquesne volleyball team plays its first two home conference matches this weekend when George Washington comes to town. The first match will be played Friday at 6:00 P.M. ET and the Saturday match will be played at 4:00 P.M.

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

SERIES BREAKDOWN VS. GEORGE WASHINGTON

All-Time Series: Duquesne is 20-38 all-time against GW.
First Meeting: Oct. 24, 1986 at DUQ – GW won 3-0
Last Meeting: Nov. 5, 2021 at DUQ – DUQ won 3-0 | Recap | Box Score
Streak: Duquesne, W2

THE DUKES

Duquesne is 3-11 overall and 0-2 in conference play. The Dukes dropped their first two A-10 matches against Davidson this past weekend.
Prior to this past weekend, the Dukes won two out of their past three games, with the wins coming against Southern Indiana and Purdue Fort Wayne.
Freshman Carsyn Henschen leads the team and ranks third in the A-10 with 156 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 was named to the Chattanooga Classic All-Tournament Team Sept. 10. She leads the team with 48 blocks, which ranks seventh in the conference.
Senior Morgan Kelly ranks second on the team with 2.70 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.
Kelly is coming off of two 10-kill performances last weekend against Davidson.
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. She returned this weekend with five blocks in two matches.
Senior setter Hailey Poling ranks fourth in the conference with 427 assists and third with 8.21 assists per set. She led the A-10 with 1,114 assists in 2021.
Sophomore Anna Shoemake returns after being named to the A-10 All-Rookie Team last season after ranking fourth on the team with 254 points and third with 206 kills.
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 465-477 and a mark of 346-361 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 WASHINGTON (ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATS)

George Washington is also 0-2 in conference play after losses to Loyola Chicago last weekend. Its overall record sits at 6-9.
Junior Liz Womble ranks second in the A-10 with 171 kills. She also ranks second on the team with 52 blocks.
Graduate student Tierra Porter leads the A-10 with 86 blocks.
Sophomore Grace Allread has taken over most of the setting duties this season and leads the Colonials with 302 assists.
As a team, GW ranks second in the A-10 with 141.5 blocks.
The Colonials brought in six newcomers this season and were picked to finish ninth in the A-10.
Katie Reifert is in her first season as the head coach at GW.

FOLLOW THE DUKES
For the latest news and updates for Duquesne volleyball, follow @DuqVB on Twitter and Instagram.

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