Noah Fries | sports editor

Coming off a season that was statistically its best in a decade, the Duquesne volleyball team heads into the 2026 season with seven newcomers — including a new assistant coach who comes back to the city she dominated college volleyball in.

Former University of Pittsburgh volleyball standout libero Emmy Klika joined the coaching staff in mid-July. The Ohio native, who spent last season in a player development role at Jacksonville University in Florida, has already left a lasting impact on the rest of the coaching staff, as well as her players.

“Her experience of where she comes from in her collegiate career and her professional career, as well as her ability to relate to the athletes, has been really special,” Assistant Coach Hunter Rock said.

Klika helped lead the Panthers to their first four NCAA Final Four appearances as a program, starting that streak in 2021 in her freshman year.

She claimed several accolades throughout her career at Pitt, including AVCA All-American Honorable Mention in 2023,

All-ACC Second Team (2023, 2024) and All-ACC Academic Team (2022, 2023, 2024).

After competing at a high level in college, Klika continued her professional career in Orlando with the Valkyries in Major League Volleyball (MLV). After capturing the league championship in 2025, Klika signed with the Columbus Fury for the 2027 season — looking to continue her playing career while getting her first shot at a true coaching role.

Duquesne Head Coach Steve Opperman got help from across town before deciding to hire Klika.

“Kellen [Petrone], who’s the Associate Head Coach at Pitt, reached out to me right away and was like, ‘You have to hire her,’” Opperman said. “She’s great with kids. You see her doing camps and clinics and things like that, and just the volleyball knowledge that she has for someone her age is actually pretty insane.”

Petrone founded the men’s club volleyball team at Duquesne and became connected to Opperman through a student assistant position with the women’s varsity team. Klika emphasized it was this relationship that helped draw her to the Bluff.

“The idea of being back in Pittsburgh was really exciting,” Klika said. “Also, kind of considering what I want to do after my playing career is done and getting some experience on the coaching side and just seeing if that’s something I can see long term for myself.

“I also get to play with the girls, which is fun; getting my own training in is important as well. But just hearing about the people here and the program here and still being a player, I can relate really well with the girls and provide my insight in that sense as well.”

The team has brought back nine returners from their record-breaking 2025 campaign, which included the program’s best start to a season since 2008 and its first trip to the Atlantic 10 Championship semifinals since 2021.

Headlining the group of returners is junior right-side hitter Emersen Schrom, who shattered the program single-season kills record last season with 532 — with the previous mark (470) being set by Amanda Haeg in 2006. Schrom was mentioned in Prep Rivals’ Player of the Year Watchlist for this upcoming season.

Joining Schrom as returning starters are senior setter Chloe Wilmot, senior middle blocker Jordan Robertson, junior middle blocker Ella Iriarte, senior right-side hitter Kylie Griffin and sophomore outside hitter Karli Jordan. Griffin and Jordan, however, will be out for several weeks while they recover from wrist and ACL injuries, respectively.

These injuries will allow for the freshman class — as well as redshirt senior Delaney McIntosh, a transfer from Colorado State — to impact the team early in the season.

“Obviously, we return Emmy [Schrom], one of the top attackers in the country last year and first-team all-conference player,” Opperman said. “Chloe has been a really good player for us in the setter position and that leadership she provides for us. Jordan [Robertson], of course, we have her back as well.

“The group of freshmen are pretty good, but it’s all about making the transition from playing against kids your own age to now playing against kids who are older, taller and jump higher,” Opperman added.

Duquesne starts its season this weekend at the YSU Invitational in Youngstown, Ohio. They will take on Canisius and Youngstown State Friday before taking on Mercyhurst Saturday to wrap up the tournament.

“It’s been a really fun preseason,” Klika said. “I think preseason is hard with two practices a day, training a lot and the intensity being really high, but I feel like every day we’ve been coming into the gym, the girls have been excited to be there, which is awesome. I’m excited to see them all get to show what they’ve been working on for three weeks and finally get to play in real games coming up.”

Noah Fries can be reached at friesn@duq.edu