Moon Township, Pa. – It was a historic day in the finale of the Chick-fil-A Roberson Classic, as head coach Steve Opperman earned his 500th career victory with Duquesne's 3-2 triumph over RMU in a five-set thriller Saturday at the UPMC Events Center. The win lifts the Dukes to 6-0, matching their best start since the 2008 season.

POINT OF EMPHASIS
Powered by 15 kills, a .294 hitting percentage, and three blocks, Duquesne grabbed a 1-0 lead in the match with a 25-22 victory in the opening set. The Dukes built a 7-6 edge before stringing together an 8-3 run to push ahead 15-9, forcing an RMU timeout. Freshman Karli Jordan halted the surge with a kill, added another point after a Colonial score, and benefited from an RMU error to keep momentum on Duquesne's side. Following a Colonial kill, sophomore Emersen Schrom tallied back-to-back swings and senior Ariel Helm added a point to extend the lead to 17-9. RMU responded with five straight points to cut the deficit to 17-14 and later pulled within one at 18-17. Jordan sparked a 5-3 stretch with two kills, helping the Dukes move ahead 22-19. The teams traded points down the stretch before Schrom sealed the set with a decisive kill.

DOMINANT RUN
Behind their best hitting percentage of the match at .632 and a decisive scoring run, the Dukes stormed to a 2-0 lead with a dominant 25-13 win in the second set. RMU opened with a 6-2 advantage, but Duquesne answered with seven straight points to go ahead 9-6. During the surge, Schrom delivered three kills, while Helm added a kill and a block. The Colonials managed to pull within two at 15-13, but the Dukes erupted with 10 unanswered points to close out the set in commanding fashion. The decisive run was fueled by senior Carsyn Henschen, who recorded three kills and three block assists, while Helm contributed two kills and three block assists of her own. Jordan added a service ace, and Schrom capped the stretch with another kill to seal the 25-13 victory.

DECIDING SET
RMU rallied to take sets three and four, forcing Duquesne into its first five-set match of the season. In the deciding frame, the teams traded the opening eight points before Schrom delivered a kill and senior Maggie Colenbrander followed with an ace to put the Dukes ahead 6-4. Ariel Helm later extended the lead to 9-6, and a block by junior Jordan Robertson and Jordan pushed the advantage to 12-8, prompting an RMU timeout. Out of the break, the Colonials tallied a point, but Schrom responded with another kill and Robertson added a service ace to bring Duquesne to match point. RMU managed one more kill before Henschen sealed the victory with her 12th of the night.

MR. 500
Head coach Steve Opperman, now in his 35th season overall, secured his 500th career victory on Saturday, becoming one of just 26 active head coaches nationwide to reach the milestone. He is also only the second active coach in the Atlantic 10 to surpass 500 wins, joining Dayton's Tim Horsmon. The longest-tenured coach in Duquesne volleyball history, Opperman is in his 28th season with the Dukes, where he has amassed 381 victories—the most in program history. An Ohio native, he began his career at Wright State, collecting 119 wins in seven seasons with the Raiders. During his time on the Bluff, Opperman has coached Duquesne's first two AVCA All-Americans, produced 18 All-Atlantic 10 First and Second Team honorees, developed 27 A-10 All-Rookie Team selections, and mentored two A-10 Rookies of the Year.

QUOTABLE
"It's kind of surreal," Opperman explained. "You know, when I look at it, it's never about me and we just talked about that in the locker room. They just wanted me to come back in and I had no idea, I don't pay attention to that. The wins are for the kids and it's a lot of hard work going to not just for myself, but from the people that have worked in our program, and all the kids that have come through our program here at Duquesne and for me at Wright State as well. So, it's just like a testament to them getting the job done on the court. But it's pretty cool."

SECOND-YEAR STANDOUT
Sophomore Emersen Schrom delivered a career performance against the Colonials, recording a personal-best 29 kills on 60 swings with a .467 hitting percentage and just one error. She also added seven digs and an assist in the victory. Her 29 kills were just one shy of the program record for a five-set match, shared by Sheila Lopez and Stacey Gilligan. Schrom opened the match with seven kills in the first set, followed by six in the second. She caught fire in the third with eight kills on a .438 clip, added five more in the fourth, and sealed the win with three clutch swings in the decisive set. The Pittsburgh native now leads the Atlantic 10 in kills per set (4.64) and total kills (102), while also pacing the conference in total points (122.5) and points per set (5.57).

INSIDE THE STAT SHEET
Joining Schrom in double figure kills was senior Carsyn Henschen, who posted her third straight match with 10 or more kills. She finished with 12 successful swings, along with four blocks and three digs. Karli Jordan and Ariel Helm each posted eight kills while Helm collected five blocks on the evening. Jordan Robertson paced the team with seven total blocks while tallying five digs and five kills. Chloe Wilmot controlled the offensive with her third double-double finishing 52 assists and 13 digs. Wilmot moved into 9^th place all-time on Duquesne all-time assist list, surpassing Sarah Svorinic (1,877 / 2008-10). Senior Madison Grimm posted her fourth match with double figure digs with 13 while senior Hanna Wilson tallied nine digs, and three assists.

UP NEXT
Duquesne hits the road when it travels to Oxford, Ohio for the Best Western invitational. The Dukes will battle Southern Indiana and Middle Tennessee on Friday, September 12 before finishing the invitational against Miami (OH) on Saturday, September 13.