DUBUQUE, Iowa (Duhawks.com) – Loras opened up day one of the Loras College Invite with an even split againststiff competition at home on Friday night in the Athletic & Wellness Center. Despite taking a 2-0 lead on the Cornell Rams in match one, the Duhawks failed to hang on, falling 3-2. Junior Kara Kentner and sophomore Tara Blake led the Duhawks bounce back in match two as they cruised to a 3-0 win over the UW-Platteville Pioneers to end the day 1-1.

In their opener, the Duhawks built an early 3-0 lead in the first set. After a Cornell timeout, Kentner and company pushed their lead to five, 9-4.

The Rams fought back to cut the Duhawks advantage to three before junior Liz Jendra lead a 5-0 Loras run. With the momentum mounting in favor of the Duhawks, Cornell used their second timeout.

The brief break did not seem to alter the game plan of the Duhawks as they returned to the court, pushing the score to 21-14. After trading points back and forth, sophomore Danni Kennedy slammed a ball to the floor for a 24-17 lead. A quick kill put the ball in the hands of the Rams with the set on the line. Off the ensuing serve, a perfect pass from junior Christina Angeli allowed sophomore Jenna Erickson to set up Kentner. Kentner slipped a ball over the block and to the ground for the 25-18 win.

Returning to the floor for set two, the teams traded points before Loras jumped out to a 12-7 lead. Junior Taylor Serrano would end Cornell's run and give the Duhawks a 16-13 advantage. The three point lead would disappear quickly as Cornell's Mariah Brandly fueled a comeback. With her team's lead cut to one, Duhawk Head Coach Jenna Ness called a timeout.

After taking a minute to regroup, Serrano recorded a kill before sophomore Therese Schultz setup Blake for the kill on back-to-back plays. In the end, a serving error by Cornell gave the Duhawks the 25-20 victory.

Needing only one set to knock off the No. 24 Rams, Loras opened set three in less than stellar fashion. They fell behind early and were never really able to make up for it. After hitting less than .300 in the first two sets, Cornell came out and hit .333 in set three, committing only three errors on 33 attacks. Loras, on the other hand, went from hitting .270 in set two to .133 in set three, only posting seven successful attacks in 30 attempts.

Set four started out much like the last with Cornell carrying all the momentum. A kill from senior Courtney Boyd sparked the Duhawks comeback effort, before a blocking error gave the Rams the win, 25-16.

Trailing 11-8 in the fifth set, Ness called a timeout in an attempt to halt the Cornell momentum. One last push by the Duhawks would fall short as they dropped the set, 15-10, and the match, 3-2.

In match two, the Duhawks squared off against the UW-Platteville Pioneers. Erickson led the charge from the start, recording four aces, helping Loras cruise to an early 6-0 lead. With all the momentum swinging in favor of the Duhawks, the Pioneers were forced to take an early timeout.

Out of the timeout, UW-Platteville began chipping away at the deficit but quickly found themselves trailing 14-6 and called their second timeout of the set. This time, the Pioneers came out and put together a run to cut the Duhawks' lead to two, forcing Loras to regroup.

The pause in play proved timely as Ness' squad returned to the floor and closed out the set, 25-22.

Loras was slow out of the gates in set two, falling behind 11-5. The Duhawks would claw their way back however; fighting to tie things up at 19 after Kennedy blocked the Pioneers attack.
From that point on, Loras controlled the set. Leading 24-22 with the set on the line, Erickson set up Serrano for the set winning kill and the 2-0 match lead.

Unlike their first match, the Duhawks came out in the third poised and determined to take the match in three. After controlling the match from the start, back-to-back kills from Serrano put the Duhawks up 16-11, forcing UW-Platteville to take a timeout.

The break served did nothing to slow down Loras' momentum, as they continued on their mission with a purpose. A heads up play by Erickson was followed with a Kentner ace and a kill from junior Liz Jendra to put the Duhawks up, 21-15.

The Pioneers would attempt to cut into the Loras lead, but ultimately a block by Kennedy and Blake would end the set 25-22, and the match 3-0. In the end, Loras posted their season-best kill percentage (.408), which was a major factor in the Duhawks' win.

Kentner led the Duhawks with 13 assists, nine digs, and eight kills, just shy of another triple-double. Blake turned in quite the performance as well, totaling 16 digs and eight kills with no errors.

On day two of the Loras College Invitational, Loras takes on Monmouth at 9 a.m. and Carthage at 1 p.m. Both games can be viewed on the Duhawk Broadcast Network, www.duhawks.com/live