MATCHES 13, 14
George Washington (10-3, 0-0) vs. Duquesne (9-3, 0-0)
Friday, September 27 | 6:00 p.m.
UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse | Pittsburgh, Pa.
Live Stats | Live Video (ESPN+)

George Washington (10-3, 0-0) vs. Duquesne (9-3, 0-0)
Saturday, September 28 | 2:00 p.m.
UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse | Pittsburgh, Pa.
Live Stats | Live Video (ESPN+)

2024 Roster | 2024 Schedule | 2024 Statistics
 
Bump. Set. Spike.
- The Duquesne University volleyball team opens up Atlantic 10 play this weekend when it hosts George Washington on Friday, Sept. 27 at 6:00 p.m. and Saturday, Sept. 28 at 2:00 p.m. inside UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse.

- The Dukes wrapped up non-conference play this past weekend, going 1-1 at the RMU/Duquesne Invitational. Duquesne dropped a 3-1 decision to Central Michigan on Friday night before bouncing back with a 3-0 sweep over Canisius on Saturday evening.

- Against the Chippewas, a pair of Dukes finished with double-digit kills, in graduate student Elizabeth Drelling and freshman Emersen Schrom. Drelling finished with 10 kills, eight digs, three service aces, and 1.5 rejections. Schrom ended with 10 successful swings, five digs and 2.0 blocks.

- Junior Ariel Helm posted nine kills and eight block assists (4.0), sophomore Chloe Wilmot tallied 26 assists and seven digs. Graduate student Grace Kristofic carded 15 assists and five digs while Madison Grimm recorded a team-high 17 digs, to go along with three assists and two aces.

- On Saturday evening, Drelling paced the Dukes and tied her season-high with 17 kills on the evening. She finished with a .500 hitting percentage while totaling 32 attacks and just one error while collecting five digs and one ace.

- Schrom finished with 12 kills on a .391 percent clip while collecting three aces and three assists. Wilmot registered 21 assists and seven digs while Kristofic tallied 11 helpers. Grimm totaled a team-high 10 digs while dishing out four assists in the win.

- The Dukes is led by head coach Steve Opperman, who is in his 27th season leading the program in 2024. Opperman is the all-time winningest coach in DU history as he has posted over 371 victories for the red and blue while collecting 160 conference wins for Duquesne.

- Duquesne hits the road after taking on the Revolutionaries this weekend. The Dukes will travel to Saint Louis for a pair of league contests on Friday, Oct. 4 at 6:00 p.m. and on Saturday, Oct. 5 at 2:00 p.m.

Scouting the Revolutionaries - Located in Washington, D.C., George Washington comes to Pittsburgh with a 10-3 overall record and a three-match win streak. The Revolutionaries are coming off three consecutive 3-0 sweeps at the Delaware State Tournament as they took down NJIT, the host Hornets, and Harvard last weekend. George Washington is led by Salem Yohannes, who ranks third in the conference in total kills (161) and fourth in kills per set (3.50). Yohannes has posted five straight games with double-digit kills, including a season-high 19 at Eastern Michigan. Dilara Elmacioglu leads the team and sits sixth in the A-10 in both assists (265) and assists per set (6.16) while ranking fifth in service aces (19). A series that dates back to 1986, it'll be the 63^rd and 64^th meeting between the Dukes and Revolutionaries come Friday and Saturday as George Washington holds a 41-21 lead in the all-time series.

All-Tourney – Due to her impressive performance at the RMU/Duquesne invitational, graduate student Elizabeth Drelling earned a spot on the All-Tournament Team. She paced the Dukes on offense during the invite, averaging 3.68 kills per set while hitting at a .302 percent clip. Drelling totaled 4.64 points per set while collecting 1.86 digs and 0.57 service aces per stanza. Against Central Michigan, Drelling tallied 10 kills and eight digs while collecting three aces and three total blocks. In a 3-0 sweep over Canisius, the grad student tied her season-high in kills with 17, on an impressive .500 hitting percentage. She totaled 32 attacks while committing just one error and tallied five digs in the win. Drelling produced five-plus kills in all three sets while carding an ace as well. The California native sits second on the team and seventh in the conference in total kills (130) while ranking eighth in the league in kills per set (3.02). Drelling has reached double-figure kills in seven matches this season as she is currently on a streak of six consecutive contests with double-digit kills.

Weekly A-10 Recognition – For the first time since 2018, the Dukes received a Defensive Player of the Week honor in junior middle blocker Ariel Helm. Helm averaged 3.45 points per whole collecting 2.00 blocks and 2.20 kills per stanza. She totaled 22 kills, 20.0 blocks, and a .487 hitting percentage over three matches for Duquesne. The Indiana native began the week by carding nine blocks (five assist, four solo) while registering seven kills and a .636 hitting percentage in a 3-0 sweep over Mercyhurst. She followed that up with eight total blocks and nine kills while hitting at a .368 percent clip against Central Michigan. The junior ended the week by producing six kills, on a .556 swing percentage while carding three rejections in a 3-0 win over Canisius. Helm currently leads the A-10 and ranks 32nd in the country in total blocks (57) while her 1.33 rejections per set lead the conference and rank 43rd in the NCAA.

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