ST. PETER, Minn. (Duhawks.com) - The Loras women's volleyball team traveled to Minnesota on Saturday, Oct. 17 for pair of non-conference matches against Hamline and Gustavus Adolphus. In the opener, the Duhawks disposed of Hamline in straight sets before falling to the Gusties, 3-0. Junior Danni Kennedy continued her consistent play, finishing the day with 13 kills on 33 attacks for a .303 attack percentage.

In their first match of the day, the Loras' high-powered offense topped Hamline in straight sets. The Duhawks (16-11), rode the momentum of freshman Claire Ritchie who finished with 13 kills on 30 total attacks. Loras was out-hit by the Pipers in the opening frame, but found other means to take the first set, 28-26. The teams combined for 19 tied scores and 11 lead changes before Ritchie closed out the set with one of her 13 kills.

In set two, Kennedy turned up her offense, putting away five of her nine kills with no attacking errors, hitting at a .556 attack percentage. The stat lines showed a fairly even match, but Hamline owned two more attacking errors than Loras, accounting for the two-point spread in which the Duhawks finished on top, 25-23.

Hamline struggled to find an answer to Loras' attack, especially in set three where the Duhawks dominated to a tune of a .368 attack percentage on 18 kills to just four errors. Defensively, Loras was led by the ever-steady sophomore Haley Bergan, who finished with 17 digs along with senior Liz Jendra who chipped in 12, as the Duhawks completed the sweep with a 25-16 win in set three.

Tilt number two featured the Duhawks against a very prestigious Gustavus Adolphus (21-2) team, who has continued its' program success so far in the 2015 campaign. Unfortunately for Loras, the same thing that found them so much success against Hamline did not prove effective versus the Gustie defense.

While the attack was still balanced, featuring four Duhawks with at least four kills, the Gustavus Adolphus registered five total blocks and held Loras' middles to seven combined kills. In turn, the Gusties offense was clicking on all cylinders, finishing with 50 kills to just six errors for a team attacking percentage of .352.

Freshman Jenna LaCorte paced the Duhawk offense in the loss, finishing with nine kills while Bergan added 19 digs.