MATCHES 7, 8, & 9
Northern Kentucky (1-5) vs. Duquesne (6-0)
Friday, September 11 | 10:00 a.m.
TD Arena | Charleston, S.C.
Live Stats

Duquesne (6-0) at College of Charleston (4-2)
Friday, September 11 | 7:00 p.m.
TD Arena | Charleston, S.C.
Live Stats | Live Video (FloCollege)

Notre Dame (1-2) vs. Duquesne (6-0)
Saturday, September 12 | 10:00 a.m.
TD Arena | Charleston, S.C.
Live Stats

2026 Roster | 2026 Schedule | 2026 Statistics | DUQ Game Notes
 
Bump. Set. Spike.
- Duquesne hits the road this weekend, traveling to Charleston, S.C., to compete in the Steve Baumrind Invitational, hosted by the College of Charleston, on Friday, Sept. 11 and Saturday, Sept. 12. The Dukes open play Friday against Northern Kentucky at 10:00 a.m. before facing host College of Charleston at 7:00 p.m. Duquesne wraps up the weekend Saturday against Notre Dame at 10:00 a.m.

- The Dukes are coming off three straight sweeps, where they improved their winning streak to six consecutive wins at the Chick-fil-A Robinson Classic. Duquesne opened competition with a 3-0 victory over Eastern Michigan before defeating Elon in straight sets. The Dukes wrapped up the tournament defeating local rival, Robert Morris, 3-0.

- Against the Eagles, Duquesne featured a pair of Dukes with double-figure kills in Simone Searles and Emersen Schrom. Searles paced the attack with a season-high 15 kills while hitting an impressive .379. She also tallied three digs and a pair of service aces in the victory.

- Schrom recorded her second kills-digs double-double of the season, finishing with 11 kills and 10 digs while hitting .364. She also led the Dukes with three service aces. Chloe Wilmot orchestrated the offense with 30 assists to go along with seven digs and two blocks, while Londyn Stone contributed nine digs and five kills.

- In a straight set victory over the Phoenix, six Dukes hit above .400 for the match, led by junior Emersen Schrom, who powered her way to a team-best 15 kills while hitting an impressive .481. Schrom saved her best for the third set, recording seven of her 15 kills to help lead Duquesne to a dominant 25-14 victory.

- She also added six digs and a match-best five service aces. Freshman Londyn Stone narrowly missed a double-double, finishing with a season-best 11 digs and nine kills while hitting .474. Simone Searles added eight kills, seven digs and four blocks, while senior Chloe Wilmot orchestrated the Duquesne offense with 32 assists to go with five digs. Senior Delaney McIntosh also made her mark on Friday, recording a career-high six assists in the victory.

- In its final match against the Colonials, the Dukes used a .387 hitting percentage and 15 kills to extend their lead to 2-0 with a 25-19 victory in the second stanza. Robert Morris jumped out to an early 9-7 advantage before a kill from Schrom and back-to-back rejections from Searles and classmate Maddie Bush evened the score at 9-all.

- Following a Colonial point, Duquesne rattled off a 6-1 run to take a 15-11 lead. Searles tallied a pair of kills during the stretch, while Robertson and Schrom each found the floor successfully. RMU responded with a 7-3 burst to knot the score at 18-18, but the Dukes answered with a 7-1 run of their own to close out the set. Three different Dukes registered a kill during the decisive stretch, while Bush and Searles teamed up for a block as Duquesne pulled away to take a 2-0 match lead.

- Duquesne did not slow down in completing the sweep, posting 14 kills while hitting an impressive .414 in the final set. The Dukes jumped out to an early 8-4 advantage, with five different players recording a kill, including three from Searles. The Colonials answered with a 5-2 run to pull within one at 10-9, but Duquesne responded with a 12-5 surge to build a 22-14 advantage. Searles led the charge with four kills during the run, while Schrom added a pair of points as the Dukes capitalized on five Colonial miscues. Later in the set, freshman Charlotte Arrington delivered the match point before sophomore Kaylie Baumgart put the finishing touch on a perfect weekend for the Dukes.

Scouting The Norse – A member of the Horizon League, Northern Kentucky enters the weekend with a 1-5 overall record after competing at the Best Western Invitational, hosted by Bowling Green. The Norse dropped three consecutive 3-1 decisions to American, Arkansas State and Bowling Green. Northern Kentucky is led offensively by Ivey Stocks and Ava Hoying, who rank first and second on the team in kills, respectively. Stocks is averaging 2.42 kills per set, while Hoying is posting 2.38 kills per outing. Both have tallied a team-best 77.0 points through six matches. The Norse have also received a strong serving performance from Allison Risley, who leads the Horizon League with 11 service aces and ranks fourth in the conference with 0.46 aces per set. Defensively, Daisy Cluxton paces Northern Kentucky with 3.92 digs per set, while Katie Noschang leads the Horizon League in both total blocks (28) and blocks per set (1.22). Friday morning's matchup with the Norse will mark just the fourth meeting between the two programs and the first since 2017. Northern Kentucky owns a 3-0 advantage in the all-time series, having won each of the previous three meetings.

Scouting The Cougars – Come Friday night, Duquesne and the College of Charleston will meet for the first time in program history. The Cougars enter the weekend with a 5-2 overall record and riding a five-match winning streak, most recently earning a straight-set victory over Presbyterian. Caroline Noonan leads the Charleston attack, averaging 4.00 points and 3.00 kills per set, while also pacing the Cougars defensively with 20.0 total blocks. Helena Vukovic directs the offense with 8.95 assists per set, while Jumana Martin has made an impact in both serving and defense. Martin leads the CAA with 13 service aces and ranks first in the conference with 4.32 digs per set. The Cougars are led by head coach Jason Kepner, who is in his 20th season at the helm. Under his leadership last season, Noonan earned 2025 CAA Rookie of the Year and First Team All-CAA honors, becoming the first Charleston player to earn the league's top rookie honor since the Cougars joined the CAA in 2013.

Scouting The Fighting Irish – A member of the ACC, Notre Dame comes to Charleston with a 1-3 record after dropping a 3-1 decision at Georgia on Tuesday night. The Fighting Irish are led offensively by Sydney Helmers, who is averaging 3.65 kills per set while pacing the team with six service aces. Portia Zeidler and Maya Baker share the setting duties, with Zeidler averaging 4.53 assists per set and Baker adding 3.71 helpers per outing. Defensively, Maya Evens leads the Fighting Irish with 3.94 digs per set, while Anna Bjork controls the net with 1.06 blocks per set. Notre Dame is led by head coach Salima Rockwell, who is in her fifth season at the helm. Saturday morning will mark just the second meeting between the two programs, with Notre Dame claiming a 3-0 victory in the first matchup back in 1992.

Rookie Sensation – Freshman right side Simone Searles continues to make an immediate impact in her first season on the Bluff, most recently earning Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week honors. Searles was named MVP of the Chick-fil-A Robinson Classic last weekend after leading the tournament with 5.22 points and 4.44 kills per set while hitting an impressive .493. Across three matches, she totaled 40 kills, 16 digs, seven blocks and three service aces. Searles opened the tournament with 15 kills, three digs, two aces and a .379 hitting percentage in a victory over Eastern Michigan before closing out the day with eight kills, seven digs, four blocks and a .533 hitting percentage in a sweep of Elon. The freshman saved her best performance for the tournament finale, posting a season-high 17 kills while hitting a blistering .586 with no errors in a sweep of Robert Morris. She also contributed six digs and two blocks in the victory. Through the opening weeks of the season, Searles has continued to establish herself as one of the Atlantic 10's top offensive threats. Her .430 hitting percentage leads the conference, while she ranks second in the league in both points per set (4.50) and kills per set (3.63), trailing only teammate Emersen Schrom in each category.

Weekly Spotlight – For the fifth time in her career, junior outside hitter Emersen Schrom was named Atlantic 10 Player of the Week after earning All-Tournament Team honors at the Chick-fil-A Robinson Classic. She averaged 5.33 points, 4.22 kills and 2.67 digs per set while hitting .413 across three matches while recording 38 kills, 24 digs and eight service aces. Schrom opened the tournament with her second kills-digs double-double of the season, recording 11 kills and 10 digs while adding three service aces and hitting .364 in a victory over Eastern Michigan. She followed with a dominant performance against Elon, posting 15 kills, six digs and a career-best five aces while hitting an impressive .481 in a sweep of the Phoenix. Schrom capped the weekend with 12 kills and eight digs while hitting .385 in a 3-0 victory over Robert Morris. The Hampton product has continued to establish herself as one of the nation's top offensive threats through the opening weeks of the season. Schrom leads the Atlantic 10 in points per set (4.89), a mark that ranks 22nd nationally, while her 4.05 kills per set pace the conference and rank 45th among NCAA Division I players. She has also been a force from the service line, recording a conference-best 13 aces to rank 24th nationally.

Closing In On 400 - The all-time winningest coach in program history, Steve Opperman, is on the brink of another major milestone in his storied coaching career. Opperman enters the weekend just one win shy of eclipsing 400 victories at Duquesne. With one more win, he would become the 21st active head coach to reach 400-plus wins at his current institution and just the 17th active head coach to combine 400 or more wins at his current university with 500-plus career victories. Opperman is in his 36th season as a head coach and 29th campaign on the Bluff. He secured his 500th career victory last September against Robert Morris, becoming one of just 28 active head coaches nationwide to reach the milestone. He is also just the second active coach in the Atlantic 10 to surpass 500 career victories, joining Dayton's Tim Horsmon.

Setting Her Name in History – In the opening weekend of the season, senior setter Chloe Wilmot reached another milestone in her illustrious career, eclipsing 3,000 career assists in the fourth set against Youngstown State. With the milestone, Wilmot became just the sixth player in program history to reach the mark. The Virginia native has continued to rank among the nation's top setters, leading the Atlantic 10 with 10.84 assists per set, which ranks 14th nationally. Her 206 assists this season also pace the conference and rank among the top 50 in the country. Wilmot has recorded 30-plus assists in all six matches this season while adding eight service aces, second most on the team. With 119 career aces, Wilmot currently ranks seventh in program history while her 3,130 career assists rank 17th among active players across all NCAA divisions and ninth among Division I players.

FOLLOW THE DUKES
For the latest news and information on Duquesne volleyball, follow the Dukes on Twitter (X) and Instagram.