DUBUQUE, Iowa (Duhawks.com) – Junior Kara Kentner's triple-double (12 kills - 20 assists - 11 digs) paced the Duhawks in their home opener as they took down the Grinnell Pioneers, 3-1 on Tuesday, September 2.

In game one, the Duhawks found themselves trailing the Pioneers early. Loras Head Coach Jenna Ness called a timeout, allowing her team to regroup. The timeout seemed to be just what the Duhawks needed as back-to-back kills by sophomore Danni Kennedy and junior Liz Jendra cut down the deficit.

After pulling within three, Loras earned the ball back on a serve into the net by Grinnell's Lindsay Fujimoto. The Duhawks made the most of it, a kill by sophomore Tara Blake was followed up with an attacking error by the Pioneers. On the ensuing play, junior Kara Kentner set up Kennedy for a kill, giving the Duhawks their first lead of the night.

Despite scoring the first point after the brief pause in play, the Pioneers could not break the momentum of the Duhawks. Another kill by Kennedy jump-started a run by the Duhawks, all the while sophomore Jenna Erickson served up three straight aces, forcing Grinnell to call their second timeout.

The break seemed to ice Erickson as her serve sailed out of bounds, cutting the Duhawks lead to 18-11. Erickson quickly made up for it though, setting up Blake and Kennedy for a pair of kills to start a 3-1 run for Loras, pushing the score to 22-12. The Duhawks rattled off three straight points behind two kills from Kentner to put the game away 25-12.

Loras opened up game two with a 9-2 lead thanks to a few miscues by the Pioneers and stellar hitting by the Duhawk attack.

Kentner set up sophomore Therese Schultz for the kill at 11-5, to swing momentum back in favor of the Duhawks. Erickson followed it up with an ace before Blake and Kennedy denied a Grinnell attack to extend the Duhawks lead to 15-7.

Despite an attempt to slow Loras' momentum with a timeout, Grinnell would only manage two more points as Loras ran away with game two, 25-9.

Trailing 9-5 in game three, Kentner set up junior Taylor Serrano who pounded the ball to ground for the kill causing an instant shift of momentum in favor of the Duhawks. The energy brought about by Serrano's kill paced the Duhawks as they knotted the game at nine, causing Grinnell to regroup.

A pair of kills by Serrano allowed the Duhawks to take a 15-13 lead. Unfortunately for Loras the lead would not last long as Claire Weidman sparked an 11-3 Pioneer run giving Grinnell the 24-18 lead. A late push by the Duhawks fell short as game three went to Pioneers, 25-21.

Looking to avoid a fifth set, Ness found her team trailing 10-7 and called a timeout. Loras responded immediately by going on a 9-4 run.

From that point on, Loras never trailed despite Grinnell pulling within one twice. With the score 23-22 in favor of the Duhawks, Blake smashed a Kentner set to push it to match point. Erickson stepped up to serve, looking to take the match. A superb serve by Erickson caught the Pioneer serve receive off guard and sealed the match for the Duhawks, 25-22.

With the win, Loras moves to 2-2 on the season. The Duhawks look to build on the win, Friday as they host Cornell at 3 p.m. and UW-Platteville at 7 p.m. on day one of the Loras College Invite.