MATCHES 10 & 11
UMES (1-7) vs. Duquesne (7-2)
Friday, September 18 | 6:00 p.m.
UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse | Pittsburgh, Pa.
Live Stats | Live Video (ESPN+)

Siena (4-5) vs. Duquesne (7-2)
Saturday, September 19 | 2:00 p.m.
UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse | Pittsburgh, Pa.
Live Stats

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Bump. Set. Spike.
- Duquesne returns to UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse to wrap up non-conference play when it co-hosts the Natale Sporting Goods Invitational with Robert Morris on Friday, Sept. 18 and Saturday, Sept. 19. The Dukes will battle UMES on Friday evening before welcoming Siena on Saturday afternoon.

- The Dukes are coming off a trip to Charleston, South Carolina where they competed in the Steve Baumrind Invitational, hosted by the College of Charleston. Duquesne dopped the opening match against Northern Kentucky, 3-2, before falling to Charleston in straight sets. Duquesne got back in the win column on Saturday, defeating Notre Dame in a five-set thriller.

- In the first match against the Norse, a trio of Dukes recorded double-doubles Friday morning, led by junior Emersen Schrom, who notched her third kills-digs double-double of the season with 18 kills and 14 digs. She also added three service aces and two blocks.

- Freshmen Simone Searles and Londyn Stone each recorded the first double-doubles of their collegiate careers. Searles finished with 16 kills and 10 digs, while Stone posted a season-best 20 digs to go along with 12 kills. She also contributed four service aces and two blocks.

- Senior Chloe Wilmot paced the Duquesne offense with a season-best 53 assists, while adding six digs, a career-high five aces and three blocks. Junior Mirabella Iriarte chipped in five kills and four blocks.

- Against the Cougars, Schrom led the Dukes offensively with eight kills while adding seven digs, with Searles contributing seven kills. Robertson provided a strong presence at the net with five kills and three blocks, while Wilmot orchestrated the Duquesne attack with 21 assists and added a dig and a block.

- The Dukes got themselves back in the win column when they battled back to earn a 3-2 victory over Notre Dame. In the decisive set, the Dukes jumped out to an early 4-1 advantage behind kills from three different players and an ace from junior Emersen Schrom. The two squads traded the next six points before Schrom added a kill and an ace to push the Duquesne lead to 11-7.

- Following a Notre Dame kill, the Dukes capitalized on a Fighting Irish miscue before sophomore Alexa Flowers added a service ace to give Duquesne a 13-8 advantage. Notre Dame responded with a 6-1 run to even the score at 14-14, but Schrom delivered when it mattered most, closing out the five-set thriller with back-to-back kills.

Scouting The Hawks – UMES, a member of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC), enters Friday's matchup with a 1-7 record and a six-match losing streak after competing in the Old Dominion Tournament last weekend. The Hawks dropped a pair of matches, falling to Navy, 3-1, before suffering a 3-1 setback to Old Dominion. UMES is led offensively by Karielys Melendez, who is averaging 2.79 points and 2.33 kills per set. She has also recorded a team-best nine service aces, while Shayla Henry ranks second on the team with 1.94 kills per set. Jayda Hutchins and Kate-Linh Eden split setting duties, with Hutchins averaging 5.31 assists per set and Eden adding 3.90 assists per outing. Defensively, Arianna Warner leads the Hawks with 3.04 digs per set, while Dynasty Andrews has anchored the front row with a team-best 34.0 total blocks. Friday's matchup will mark just the third meeting between the Dukes and Hawks and the first since the 2008 season. Duquesne has dropped just one set in the all-time series, earning a 3-0 sweep in the first meeting in 1988 before posting a 3-1 victory in 2008.

Scouting The Saints – A member of the Metro Conference, Siena comes to the Bluff riding a two-match winning streak and holding a 4-5 overall record. The Saints most recently hosted the Siena Invitational, earning sweeps over Le Moyne and Bucknell. Siena is paced by Mary Claire Deacy, who is averaging 3.40 points and 3.09 kills per set. She is hitting .305 on the season and has recorded double-digit kills in six matches. Abby Edwards controls the offense with 188 total assists, averaging 5.53 per set, while also totaling nine service aces. Defensively, Brooke Malek leads the Saints with just over 5.00 digs per set, while Alison Goldberg and Maggie Seymour have anchored the net with 33.0 and 31.0 total blocks, respectively. Saturday's contest will mark just the second meeting between the Dukes and Saints. Duquesne won the first matchup, sweeping Siena, 3-0, in 2002.

A Milestone At The Net – Senior middle blocker Jordan Robertson etched her name into the Duquesne record book at the Steve Baumrind Invitational, surpassing 300 career blocks in the Dukes' opening match against Northern Kentucky. The Florida native eclipsed the milestone in the fourth set, becoming just the eighth player in program history to surpass 300 career rejections. Robertson finished the match with a team-high eight blocks and went on to collect 15 total blocks across Duquesne's three matches in Charleston. She now has 309 career blocks, good for eighth in program history, while her 263 block assists rank seventh all-time at Duquesne. Through nine matches this season, Robertson has continued to lead the Dukes at the net with 28 total blocks, including six solo rejections. She has also provided an offensive presence, hitting .373 while averaging 1.25 kills per set and recording six service aces.

Finding A Rhythm – For the second consecutive week, junior Emersen Schrom earned All-Tournament Team honors, securing a spot on the Steve Baumrind Invitational All-Tournament Team. Schrom turned in a standout weekend, averaging 4.73 points, 3.77 kills and 2.85 digs per set while totaling 49 kills, 37 digs and 10 service aces across three matches. Schrom opened the tournament with a double-double against Northern Kentucky, recording 18 kills and 14 digs. After adding eight kills and seven digs against the College of Charleston, the Pittsburgh native saved her best performance for last, posting 23 kills and 16 digs while serving up six aces in Duquesne's five-set victory over Notre Dame. Through nine matches this season, Schrom continues to lead the Atlantic 10 in several statistical categories, including points per set (4.83), total points (154.5), kills per set (3.94), service aces (23) and aces per set (0.72).

A Legacy Built to 400 – Head coach Steve Opperman, in his 36th season overall and 29th on the Bluff, reached another career milestone last Saturday against Notre Dame, becoming one of 21 active Division I head coaches with at least 400 victories at their current institution. Opperman is also one of just 16 active Division I head coaches to record 500 or more career victories while collecting at least 400 wins at their current program. He surpassed the 500-win mark last season, becoming the second coach in Atlantic 10 history to reach the milestone. His 519 career victories currently rank 24th nationally. During his 29 seasons at Duquesne, Opperman has guided the Dukes to double-digit victories in all but two campaigns, including 15 seasons with at least 15 wins. The Ohio native has led Duquesne to 12 Atlantic 10 Tournament appearances and coached the program's first two AVCA All-Americans. Opperman's tenure has also produced 19 All-Atlantic 10 First and Second Team selections, 27 A-10 All-Rookie Team honorees and two A-10 Rookies of the Year.

Rookie On a Roll – Freshman Simone Searles has made an immediate impact for the Dukes through the first nine matches of her collegiate career, establishing herself as a consistent offensive threat. She currently ranks third in the Atlantic 10 in points per set (4.05), while her 3.41 kills per set and 129.5 total points rank fifth in the conference. Searles has recorded 109 kills this season, the third-most among A-10 freshmen and 18th-most among freshmen nationally. The Georgia native has posted double-digit kills in six matches, including four performances with at least 15 successful swings. She is hitting .315 on the season and has recorded a .300 hitting percentage or better in six matches, including a pair of outings at .500 or better. Searles has continued to earn recognition for her strong start, earning A-10 Rookie of the Week honors (Sept. 8) after being named the MVP of the Chick-fil-A Robinson Classic.

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