DUBUQUE, Iowa (Duhawks.com) - The Loras women's volleyball team concludes the regular season tonight when they take on crosstown rival University of Dubuque. With a win tonight, combined with a victory by Coe over Luther, the Duhawks would earn the No. 2 seed in the Iowa Conference Tournament and secure a first round bye next week.

ALL-TIME SERIES AGAINST DUBUQUE •••
Since 2001, Loras and Dubuque have played 15 times with the Duhawks owning the upper hand with 10 victories. Dating back to 2008, Loras has won seven consecutive matches against the Spartans. Four of the 15 meetings between the two sides have gone five sets, while six have been 3-0 sweeps.

LAST TIME OUT AGAINST DUBUQUE •••
When these two sides met in 2014, Loras was on the bubble on making the Iowa Conference Tournament and needed a victory in either three or four sets in order to qualify. Tara Blake turned in a team-high 11 kills for the Duhawks while Haley Bergan paced the defense with 22 digs. Adding to the offense was Liz Jendra, hitting .318 with 10 kills. Loras earned the No. 6 seed with the 3-1 win (25-20, 25-13, 19-25, 25-18)

SCOUTING THE SPARTANS •••
There's no hiding the gameplan for Dubuque on Tuesday night, set Klaudia Basierak. The Spartan outside hitter has more than 400 attacks than the next closest on her team and leads the Iowa Conference with 463 kills. Loras will be challenged with shutting her down and force Dubuque to spread out their offense. The Spartans are currently on a three-match winning streak and with a win on Wednesday can earn the No. 3 seed combined with a Luther win over Coe.

TOURNAMENT SEEDING SCENAROS •••
With their win on Tuesday night, Wartburg claimed the regular season championship and the No. 1 seed for the Iowa Conference Tournament. The remaining five seeds still up for grabs.

Buena Vista
••• No. 2 seed with a Coe win (vs. Luther) and a Dubuque win (vs. Loras)
••• No. 3 seed with a Coe win (vs. Luther) and a Loras win (vs. Dubuque)
••• No. 4 seed with a Luther win (vs. Coe)

Loras
••• No. 2 seed with a win (vs. Dubuque) and a Coe win (vs. Luther)
••• No. 3 seed with a win (vs. Dubuque) and a Luther win (vs. Coe)
••• No. 5 seed with a loss (vs. Dubuque) and a Luther win (vs. Coe)
••• No. 6 seed with a loss (vs. Dubuque) and a Coe win (vs. Luther)

Luther
••• No. 2 seed with a win (vs. Coe)
••• No. 4 seed with a Dubuque win (vs. Loras)
••• No. 5 seed with a Loras win (vs. Dubuque)

Coe
••• No. 3 seed with a win (vs. Luther) and a Dubuque win (vs. Loras)
••• No. 4 seed with a win (vs. Luther) and a Loras win (vs. Dubuque)
••• No. 5 seed with a loss (vs. Luther) and a Loras win (vs. Dubuque)
••• No. 6 seed with a loss (vs. Luther) and a Dubuque win (vs. Loras)

Dubuque
••• No. 3 seed with a win (vs. Loras) and a Luther win (vs. Coe)
••• No. 5 seed with a win (vs. Loras) and a Coe win (vs. Luther)
••• No. 6 seed with a loss (vs. Loras)

SWEET HOME DUBUQUE •••
Playing at home has been kind for the Loras women's volleyball team so far in 2015. Heading into Tuesday's matchup against Simpson, the Duhawks own an 9-3 record in the AWC, including a 4-0 record against Iowa Conference opponents.

CLIPPING THE 20-WIN MARK •••
With a 3-1 win over Webster on Saturday, the Duhawks were able to accomplish a feat five years in the making. The victory marked Loras' 20th season win, a mark that not been met since the 2010 season. The 2015 season is also the first time Loras has beat Wartburg since 2010 as well. Within the 2010 season, the Duhawks went 26-9 and won the Iowa Conference Regular Season title before falling in the tournament championship to Wartburg.

SCHULTZ AND BERGAN NAMED PERFORMERS OF THE WEEK •••
Therese Schultz and Haley Bergan were named Iowa Conference Performers of the Week following their efforts in last week's matches. Schultz, a junior middle hitter, finished with 53 kills, 20 digs, and nine blocks (one solo) on the week, including a 13-kill effort against ninth-ranked UW-Whitewater. In all four matches on the weekend Schultz posted double-digit kills. After moving back to the middle from the outside during the last offseason, Schultz has flourished, averaging 2.37 kills per set and owning a .262 attack percentage.

Began, Loras' defensive specialist and libero, was up to her old tricks again, cleaning up attack after attack from opponent hitters. The sophomore finished with 120 digs in five matches, including a 32-dig effort against Webster to close out the "Dig Panici Classic".

JENDRA JUMPING INTO NEW ROLE •••
In her senior season thus far, Liz Jendra has been rock solid for the much improved Duhawk women's volleyball team, especially on the defensive end. Jendra, who hadn't played much back row defense since the 2013 season, currently sits second on the team with 2.62 digs per set trailing only Duhawk libero Haley Bergan. In conference matches, she has further stepped up her defensive effort averaging 3.62 digs per set. Jendra has also been a key contributor to the strong Duhawk net defense with 44 total blocks in 2015.

THE BLOCK MACHINE •••
Heading into Wednesday's finale against University of Dubuque, junior Danni Kennedy stands second in the Iowa Conference with 105 total blocks, trailing Dubuque's Anna Runge who has 116. Kennedy is averaging 0.93 blocks per game to lead the Duhawks.

SCHULTZ TURNING UP THE OFFENSE •••
Junior Therese Schultz has put up huge numbers hitting out of the middle after moving in from the outside in the offseason. In 14 contests, Schultz has hit at .300 or better. Overall, Schultz recent hot streak has her leading the Duhawk side with a .262 mark. With Loras' ability to be effective in the middle, it helps the entire offense operate at a much higher success rate. Setters Claire Ritchie and Jenna Erickson have routinely fed both Schultz and Danni Kennedy, who have proven to be reliable in the middle.

DIGGING MACHINE •••
In the last five matches, the Duhawks are 4-1 and have gotten great contributions from many, but none more than Bergan. With 120 digs in the last week, including 105 at the "Dig Panici Classic", Bergan has taken her defense to a whole new level. Against Webster in the weekend finale, Bergan chipped in with a match-high 32 digs to guide Loras to a 3-1 win. Her 32 digs matched a career-high set last season against Dominican and it marks the second time this season that Bergan has met the same mark. She moved into sole possession of second place in the Loras All-Time Records for digs in a season with 595, passing Michelle Bahl's record of 554.