NAPERVILLE, Ill. (Duhawks.com) - The Loras women's volleyball team settled for a split on Friday of the Tiffany Robinson Memorial Tournament, hosted by North Central College. In their first match, Loras swept Purdue-North Central, 3-0, only to fall to top-ranked Washingston University in St. Louis, 3-1. Junior
Therese Schultz finished with 16 kills and seven blocks over the two matches.
In Loras' (12-9) opener against Purdue-North Central (5-16), the travel lag kept the Duhawks from jumping out to a quick start. The Panthers repeatedly rallied against the Loras attack, but eventually conceded the first set, 25-20. As a team, Loras registered 17 kills, with Schultz leading the charge with four.
With the first set out of the way, Loras turned up the heat in set two and cruised to a 25-13 win. Schultz and senior
Liz Jendra posted perfect attack percentages, with five and three kills respectively. As a team, the Duhawks hit .364 and limited Purdue-North Central to a .030 attack percentage.
Set three saw the rise of freshman
Jenna LaCorte as she buried six of her seven attacks for kills, finishing with an .857 attack percentage. Loras raised the bar from set two and hit .406, putting away 16 of their 32 attacks while committing just three errors, on their way to a 25-12 win and clean sweep of the Panthers.
In the nightcap of their doubleheader, the Duhawks were faced with the tall-task of going toe-to-toe with the No. 1 team in Division III, WashU. The Bears, who entered the evening match with a 19-1 overall record, went five sets with No. 11 Carthage just before facing Loras. The long battle with the Lady Reds wore on the Bears, as they allowed Loras to take the early lead in set one.
The Duhawks wasted no time in jumping on WashU and targeted junior
Danni Kennedy in the middle. She finished with six kills in the first set and a .750 attack percentage. In a very close game, Loras came away victorious by a 25-23 score, finishing with a kill by Kennedy.
All signs pointed in favor of the Duhawks, who entering Friday, had not lost a match in which they won the first set. Unfortunately for Loras, the high-potent offense of the Bears kicked into high gear beginning in set two.
WashU (20-1) converted on 15 of 29 attacks in set two to the tune of a .345 attack percentage, while limiting the Duhawks to just four kills on 28 attacks, while forcing four attacking errors. The furious comeback had begun for the Bears, who won set two, 25-14.
The shell shock wore off for Loras in set three as they found their legs once again. Back and forth play from both sides favored the Bears as they maintained a steady lead throughout. Loras managed to cut the deficit to three at 13-10, but WashU refused to let the door open again. Every time the Duhawks managed to start a comeback, the Bears were there to reclaim the advantage.
Trailing 24-17, Loras managed to stave off defeat, scoring three points thanks to two WashU attack errors and a kill from Kennedy. The Bears' Caroline Dupont finished off set three with a kill to win 25-20.
Refusing to go away quietly, Loras charged out of the gates in set four to the tune of a 12-4 lead, forcing two timeouts from WashU. The break in action helped to slow the Duhawks' attack, allowing the Bears to bring the game back to a two-point deficit at 13-11.
Loras led by as many as five at 22-17 before WashU pushed on with a 7-1 rally and took the lead at 24-23. LaCorte made it 24-all with her kill, but the Bears finally put an end to the match with back-to-back points to win 26-24.
FRIEDMAN GROUP PLAYER OF THE GAME
Therese Schultz | Finishing with 14 kills and seven blocks,
Therese Schultz was a multi-dimensional catalyst for Loras on Friday.
UP NEXTDay two of the Tiffany Robinson Memorial Tournament pits Loras against North Central at 1 p.m. and Robert Morris at 3 p.m.
