MATCHES 29, 30
Duquesne (13-15, 4-12) at George Mason (9-16, 4-12)
Friday, November 15 | 6:00 p.m.
Recreation Athletic Complex | Fairfax, Va.
Live Stats | Live Video (ESPN+)

Duquesne (13-15, 4-12) at George Mason (9-16, 4-12)
Saturday, November 16 | 3:00 p.m.
Recreation Athletic Complex | Fairfax, Va.
Live Stats | Live Video (ESPN+)

2024 Roster | 2024 Schedule | 2024 Statistics
 
Bump. Set. Spike.
- The Duquesne University volleyball team concludes its regular season when it travels to Fairfax, Va. to battle George Mason in a weekend series. The Dukes face the Patriots on Friday, Nov. 15 at 6:00 p.m. and Saturday, Nov. 16 at 3:00 p.m.

- The Dukes wrapped up its home portion of its schedule last weekend with a series against VCU while celebrating senior day. Duquesne fell in a five-set match on Friday, 3-2 before falling 3-0 on Saturday.

- Prior to the match on Saturday, Duquesne honored three student-athletes and one student manager. Graduate students Elizabeth Drelling and Grace Kristofic as well as senior Madison Floyd and student manager Tori Fowler were thanked for their dedication and contributions to the program.

- In the five-set thriller, three Dukes finished with double digit kills, led by graduate student Elizabeth Drelling. She registered a new season-high with 19 kills while producing a .351 swing percentage. It's the 17th time this season Drelling has finished with double figure kills and the third time in the last four contests.

- Junior Ariel Helm recorded a career-high 13 successful swings and an impressive .600 hitting percentage. It's the sixth time she's finished with 10+ kills while collecting a pair of solo blocks. Freshman Emersen Schrom is the final Duke in double figures, tallying 12 kills, three digs, two blocks, and an ace. Schrom has now finished in double figures for the 16th time this season.

- Sophomore Chloe Wilmot controlled the offense with 35 assists while carding three digs and a pair of blocks. Graduate student Grace Kristofic produced 25 helpers and seven digs while junior Madison Grimm collected 11 digs and three assists. Freshman Tori Newton finished with a season-high three service aces and 10 digs while Avery Hobson tallied 12 digs and eight kills. Jordan Robertson led the team with three blocks and registered seven kills on Friday.

- During Saturday's match, Drelling paced Duquesne with 12 kills on a .292 swing percentage while tallying a block. Kristofic ended the match with 12 assists and one dig for the Dukes. Junior Carsyn Henschen ended with seven kills while Ariel Helm, Avery Hobson, and Jordan Robertson finished with four kills each.

- Hobson tallied nine digs while Robertson collected three blocks during the loss. Sophomore Chloe Wilmot controlled the offense with 17 assists and three digs while Emersen Schrom carded four service aces.

Scouting The Patriots – George Mason comes into the weekend series tied for seventh with the Dukes in the Atlantic 10 standings as both teams look to make one final push for a spot in the conference tournament. The Patriots have lost seven straight matches leading into the weekend and hold a 9-19 overall record, including a 4-12 mark in league play. Autumn Martinez-Robinson sits third in the country in total service aces (62) while ranking 10^th in the NCAA Division I in aces per set (0.58). Martinez-Robinson has posted 15 matches with at least 3+ service aces this season while also leading the team and ranking third in the A-10 in digs (438) and fourth in digs per set (4.09). Olyvia Kennedy leads the Patriots in total kills (273) and kills per set (2.55) while Haley Graetz sits behind Kennedy in total kills with 213. This weekend's series will be the 22^nd and 23^rd meeting between the two programs as Duquesne holds a 12-9 advantage, winning six of the last eight contests.

Consistent Basis – Heading into the final two regular season matches, the Dukes have a handful of players who've been productive throughout the year. Elizabeth Drelling leads the team with 300 total kills while ranking seventh in the league with 2.97 kills per set. She's registered 18 matches with double figure kills, including 10 of the last 12 matches in double digits. Setters Chloe Wilmot and Grace Kristofic have controlled the offense for the Dukes this season. Wilmot has posted double figure assists in all 25 matches she's played in while ranking fifth in the league in assists per set (5.83). Kristofic has registered 26 matches in double digit helpers, including 14 consecutive contests with 12+. The duo has combined for 1,043 assists on the season.

Climbing The Record Book – Junior middle blocker Ariel Helm has put together a memorable season as she continues to climb in the record book. Helm is already the single-season blocks leader as she broke the record against Loyola Chicago on Nov. 2, a record that stood for 19 years (2005). The night before, she became just the seventh player in program history to eclipse 300 blocks for their career. The junior heads into the weekend sitting second all-time in DU history with 101 block assists, just 13 shy of Monica Tinsley (2005) with 114. The Indiana native continues to lead the conference in blocks per set (1.21) while ranking 16^th in the country in total rejections (130) this season.

50^th Anniversary – This season, the Dukes celebrated 50 years of the program as it began in the fall of 1974. For the first 12 years, Duquesne played as a club team before elevating the program to the Division I level in 1986. The first coach to lead the then-Duchesses' was Duquesne alum Rob Cisney who coached the first three years of the Dukes being a Division I program. Duquesne has put together an all-time record of 702-709 (.498), a Division I record of 517-600 (.463), and an Atlantic 10 record of 210-321 (.395). The Dukes won its first-ever Division I contest at Robert Morris on September 10, 1986, with a 3-0 sweep. Duquesne won its first-ever conference contest against Rutgers, when they defeated the Scarlet Knights in straight sets. The Dukes made its first ever appearance in the Atlantic 10 Tournament in 1991, under Jeff Yurko before winning its first A-10 Tournament contest in 1993, with a 3-1 decision over West Virginia.

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