KENOSHA, Wis. (Duhawks.com) – The Loras Men's Volleyball team traveled to the campus of No. 8 Carthage College for their season finale. The Red Men backed up their top-10 ranking by defeating Loras 3-0. Freshman Jimmy Combs led the Duhawks with seven kills, one assisted block and one service ace.

Loras had a tall task in front of them coming into the match. Carthage had already clinched the regular season title in the MCVL but was looking to finish the conference season undefeated.
The Duhawks kept pace with the Red Men early in the first set after Combs wound up and slammed a service ace to make the score, 4-3.

Carthage responded with a significant run in which they scored eight unanswered points, but a service error ended the run, leaving Loras within striking distance at 12-7.

Later, trailing 19-9, freshman Shayne Marquez connected with Dylan Ross for a powerful kill to cut the lead to nine. The two sides traded points the rest of the way, resulting in a 25-14 Carthage victory in set one.

Carthage came out firing once again in set two but the Duhawks weathered the storm early on after a kill by Freshman TJ Esporas made the score, 7-5 in favor of the Red Men.

Playing in his last collegiate game, senior Michael Kreiser was looking to end his career on a positive note. Kreiser helped his cause by hammering home a big swing to make it, 13-9. Freshman Dawid Kasprzak cashed in on a set-up from Marquez to make it 16-10 a few points later.

A five-point rally by Carthage extended their lead to 23-13 and Loras could do little to slow down the attack, falling 25-14.

The Red Men jumped ahead to start third set action but the Duhawks responded thanks to freshman Kyle Zacok who blasted away a kill to make it 8-6 Carthage.

The Red Men quickly and efficiently scrapped their way to a five-point advantage at 19-14 before Loras constructed another rally, taking five of the next seven points highlighted by a Marquez service ace.

With the score at 21-19, Carthage called a timeout to regroup. The break did enough to take Loras out of their groove as the Red Men rattled off four unanswered points to take the set and the match.
 
Game Changer
Four players for Carthage had six kills or more (Shields, Storm, Ciaglia and Tulacka) ... Their offense was clicking from the very start, which gave the Duhawks little opportunity to get ahead

Key Stat
The Duhawks recorded a total of 33 errors for the match

Notables