DUBUQUE, Iowa (Duhawks.com) – Looking to build on Friday night's win over UW-Platteville (3-0), the Duhawks returned to the Athletic & Wellness Center to wrap up the Loras College Invite on Saturday morning. Loras started the day off with a match against the Monmouth College Fighting Scots, the Duhawks paced by an outstanding attack led by junior Kara Kentner and sophomore Danni Kennedy, taking the match 3-0. The Duhawks wrapped up the weekend with a 3-1 loss to the Carthage Lady Reds, after a late rally fell short.

Boasting a .554 kill percentage in the first match, the Duhawks overpowered Monmouth from the get go. A block by Kentner in the early goings gave Loras a 7-3 edge and forced the Fighting Scots to call a timeout.

The timeout did not phase the Duhawks however, as Kentner recorded back-to-back aces pushing her team's lead to 13-5 moments after the break to put the game out of reach for the Scots. Eventually, Kentner finished the game off with one of her set-high six kills, 25-11.

Sophomores Tara Blake and Danni Kennedy caught fire in the second set, combining for seven kills, as Loras went up, 4-0, early forcing the Scots to take a timeout.
The timeout seemed to ice sophomore Jenna Erickson as her serve fell short of clearing the net, giving Monmouth their first point of the set. Loras rebounded quickly however, as a kill by Kentner pushed the Duhawks lead to five, 7-2.

After a long rally ended with the ball hitting the floor on the side of the Scots, Loras' lead moved to double digits, bringing about another Monmouth timeout.
The Scots scored the first point out of the timeout on a Loras miscue but could not overcome the Duhawks stellar attack. Sophomore Therese Schultz took advantage of an errant pass by the Scots up at the net, crushing it for the kill as the Duhawks move to set point, 24-6.

Looking to take the set, Erickson's floating serve dipped just below the arms of a Monmouth player for the ace and the 25-6 win.

With her team trailing 12-9 in the third set, Schultz's tipped the ball over the block for the kill. The smart play ended a 3-0 Monmouth run and sparked a 12-3 run by the Duhawks. The Scots attempted to halt the Duhawks run by using a timeout with the score, 22-15 in favor of Loras after Kentner crushed a set from Erickson for the kill.
Out of the break, the Duhawks picked up where they left off, rattling off three straight points to take the set win 25-15, and the match 3-0.

Led by outstanding hitting in the match, the Duhawks had two players hit over .800 for a match for the first time in over five years. Kentner's impressive hitting would tie teammate Danni Kennedy's record for best kill percentage in a match (.875). Kennedy was not far behind, tallying 10 kills (.846).

Loras rounded out tournament play with a clash with the Carthage Lady Reds. The match was tight from the start, as the teams were tied at 23 late in the first set. Carthage's Rachel Fields tipped a ball just out of the reach of the Duhawks to take a 24-23 lead. Blake responded for the Duhawks, sending a kill down the line and painting the corner of the court to knot the score at 24. The Crystal Lake, Illinois native followed it up with another kill, this time hard in between a pair of Lady Reds, to put her team up one.
Looking to put the set away, Kentner attempted to a short tip down the line. Unfortunately, her tip would get blocked and fall just inside the line on the side of the Duhawks.

With the opportunity to regain the lead, Erickson set the hot-hitting Blake for another kill to put the Duhawks up 26-25.

On the ensuing serve, Carthage's serve receive stepped up in a big way – putting a perfect pass in the hands of junior Karen Chin. Chin, as she did all match, put up a set for a big swing by Fields who powered for the kill. From that point on, Chin stayed with what was working and set Fields back-to-back for the 29-27 set one win.
Looking to even the match at one, the Duhawks started the set off right as Schultz recorded a kill to open the set. The 1-0 Loras lead would be their only advantage of the set as they fell behind 15-8 on their way to a 25-14 defeat.

In set three, Loras returned to form with junior Christina Angeli kicking things off with back-to-back aces. A few big plays from Schultz and junior Liz Jendra kept the Duhawks in front before Kentner recorded two consecutive kills to put the Duhawks up, 9-6.

After earning a point and the serve, Carthage caught a break as an attack pinged its way off a few Lady Reds before catching the Duhawks off guard and falling for a point. The unusual play started a 5-1 run for Carthage, putting them ahead 13-11.

Loras fought back behind a pair of plays by Kentner. After an unassisted kill, Kentner followed it up with an ace to tie things up late. Recognizing that the Lady Reds were turning up the defense on Kentner, Erickson set Blake on consecutive plays. The heads up selection by Erickson resulted in a pair of kills from Blake and a 20-18 edge.
Moments later, a rare miscue at the hand of Chin put the Duhawks in position to take the set, 24-20. With senior Courtney Boyd serving, the Lady Reds committed a serve receive error to give Loras the set, 25-20.

Attempting to force a decisive game five, Loras took an early 3-0 lead on a back row kill from Angeli. Carthage battled back however, using three straight kills to tie the set at six.

After trading points, Schultz slammed a ball just beyond the attack line to put the Duhawks ahead 8-7.

The lead would not last long however as the Lady Reds took a 11-9 lead and never looked back. Despite a late push by the Duhawks, Carthage went on to take set four 25-21.

The set win earned them the match victory and gave the Duhawks a 2-2 finish on the weekend.

Kentner recorded another triple-double (10 kills, 27 assists, 12 digs), while Blake tallied a team-high 13 kills and 18 digs. Boyd led the defensive side for the Duhawks with a season-best 30 digs.

Although Loras finishes the tournament even, the battles brought upon by the weekend's matches show promise for the season.

"We played four good games against good teams," Ness said. "We battled hard and really learned and grew as a team. There's still a lot of room for improvement."

Loras finishes their five-game home stand, 3-2. The Duhawks travel to Naperville, Illinois on Tuesday to take on North Central College. The match is set to start at 6 p.m.