DUBUQUE, Iowa (Duhawks.com) – With their highest seeding in the Iowa Conference tournament since 2010, the Loras College women's volleyball team defeated the No. 3 seeded Buena Vista Beavers 3-2 (27-25, 26-24, 12-25, 24-26, 15-9) on Thursday night inside the Athletic & Wellness Center. Loras needed every bit of each set in order to move on to the conference championship. Freshman Claire Ritchie paced the offense, recording 15 kills, good for a .483 hitting percentage overall.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Set One
The first two sets were hard-fought victories for the Duhawks (22-12), as they narrowly defeated the Beavers (18-17). Each of the first two sets featured numerous lead changes, with seven occurring in the second set alone.

Loras opened the first set slowly, quickly getting out to a 4-1 deficit. It didn't take long for Loras to bring things back however, taking a 17-12 lead midway through the set thanks in part to a series of kills from junior Therese Schultz. Schultz was a force to be reckoned with all match, tallying a team-high 16 kills on .239 hitting. After Buena Vista took a 24-22 lead, the Duhawks continued to battle back before claiming the set 27-25. A pair of errors from the Beavers Maddie Bardole set up Ritchie for the set winning kill.

Set Two
Set number two began nearly identical to its predecessor with Buena Vista jumping out to an early 6-1 lead. Once Loras tied it up at 10-all, neither team took a distinct lead over the other until the set was over. With neither team wanting to concede the set, senior Liz Jendra found her stride in order to collect the final two kills of the set.

Set Three
Trailing two sets to none, Buena Vista knew their backs were to the wall and responded with great resiliency. A 13-3 run opened a massive gap midway through the third set as the Beavers connected on 10 kills, putting away balls repeatedly through the Duhawk defensive block. Despite timeouts from Head Coach Jenna Ness, Loras could not slow the momentum, dropping the set 25-12.

Buena Vista gave their all in sets three and four to tie the match heading into the final set. Loras was out-hit significantly in each of the sets the Beavers won, combining for 15 errors across the two sets.

Set Four
Loras responded well in the fourth set, with both sides trading blows left and right. A four-point run by Loras extended their lead to 16-12, but Buena Vista came charging right back, eventually leveling the set at 22-all. The Duhawks held match-point at 24-22, but three consecutive kills from the Beavers handed them the upper hand and forced a decisive fifth set, winning 26-24.

Set Five
Heading into the fifth, the Duhawks turned to their home crowd to give them the energy they needed to bounce back after dropping two straight sets. After a back-and-forth start to the set, Loras began to pull away. Trailing 4-2, the Duhawks built a 9-0 run to take a commanding 10-4 lead and put Buena Vista on their heels. Refusing to go down without a fight, the Beavers turned to Emily Mathews for two kills and a block to bring the fifth set to a 13-9 score. Senior Liz Jendra pushed Loras into match-point with a kill and Ritchie delivered her 15th kill of the night to beat the block at the net and lift the Duhawks to a 15-9 victory.

FRIEDMAN GROUP PLAYERS OF THE GAME
Claire Ritchie | The freshman tallied her fifth triple-double of the season to set her team up for a IIAC Championship birth. Ritchie tallied 15 kills, 24 assists and 16 digs across five sets alongside a team-high .483 hitting percentage.
Therese Schultz | Schultz led the team in kills with 16. The New Lenox, Illinois native was a consistent force throughout the night and was instrumental in the Duhawks victory.

SOUNDBITES | Haley Bergan, Therese Schultz and Claire Ritchie


SOUNDBITES | Jenna Ness and Jeremy Thornburg


UP NEXT
Loras will take on the top-seeded Wartburg College Knights on Saturday in hopes of winning an Iowa Conference Championship. Wartburg defeated Coe College on Thursday night by a final score of 3-0. In their regular season meeting, the Duhawks topped Wartburg in five sets, handing the Knights one of their five losses on the season. Loras will play in their first conference tournament championship match since 2012 and with a win will earn the Iowa Conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Women's Volleyball Championships.