DUBUQUE, Iowa (Duhawks.com) – The Loras Women's Volleyball team opened their home invitational on Friday, Sept. 11 with matches against UW-Stout and Saint Mary's. Reeling from their midweek win over UW-Platteville, the Duhawks hoped to continue the trend on Friday, but instead settled for two heart wrenching 3-2 defeats.
In their first match of the day, Loras and UW-Stout went back and forth for four matches with each side utilizing momentum to build extended runs. Junior
Danni Kennedy was a dominant force in the middle for Loras, finishing with 10 blocks (3 solo) and 10 kills. Topping Kennedy in the kill department was senior
Liz Jendra, who posted a season-high 15 kills on 35 attempts for a .286 attack percentage.
On paper, Loras held the upper-hand in many of the statistical categories, including attack percentage. The difference maker was the fifth set where Stout pounded away seven kills on 17 attempts while Loras settled for five kills on 18 attempts including four attack errors.
Loras' final match of the night pit Head Coach
Jenna Ness against her former team, Saint Mary's. A former assistant coach for the Cardinals, Ness and the Duhawks left everything out on the court in another five-set thriller. Saint Mary's, who entered the match with a 5-1 overall record, jumped out on Loras early to win set one 25-16.
Reacting like a veteran squad, Loras responded with a 26-24 win in set two, improving greatly on their attack and forcing the Cardinals to commit twice as many errors as they did in the first set. With their backs to the wall in set four, Loras donned their armor and went to battle and eventually withstood the barrage to come out victorious 32-30.
The break in action between the fourth and fifth set was enough for Saint Mary's to right the ship, as they jumped out to an 8-2 lead and extended it to 11-5 before Kennedy took over for Loras. The Dyersville, Iowa native put away three kills and assisted on a block to bring the Duhawks to level pegging but once again Saint Mary's returned to form and this time it was for good, taking the fifth set and the match.
KEY PLAYSLoras vs. UW-Stout| SET 1 | LOR |Trailing 16-14,
Reilly Kuhn gets the kill and would eventually kick start the Duhawks to a 20-18 lead
| SET 2 | LOR |
Akasia Brown starts a rally with a kill down the line and makes it a tied game
| SET 2 | LOR | At 18-17,
Haley Bergan dives for an attack out of the Blue Devil offense and allowed the Duhawks to pull away to a 25-20 win.
| SET 4 | LOR | Down, 16-12,
Danni Kennedy sees an open left corner on the Blue Devil's court to reverse momentum.
| SET 5 | STOUT | Stout would take their first lead of the set with the block and never give it up.
Loras vs. Saint Mary's| SET 2 | LOR | After dropping the first set 25-16, Loras opened the second set with three straight points. While SMU would eventually erase the deficit, the quick start got Loras back on track offensively
| SET 3 | SMU | The Cardinals used a 13-4 run in the middle of set three to grasp a firm hold of the momentum with only five of the 13 points coming from SMU attacks
| SET 4 | LOR | Trailing 30-29, Loras benefited from three consecutive kills from
Danni Kennedy,
Akasia Brown, and
Jenna LaCorte to secure the 32-30 win
| SET 5 | LOR | Following a timeout by Saint Mary's with a 11-5 lead,
Danni Kennedy put the Duhawks on her back to bring them back into the set.
FRIEDMAN GROUP PLAYER OF THE GAME – LORAS VS. UW-STOUTDanni Kennedy | With 10 kills and 10 blocks, Kennedy led both the offensive and defensive efforts for the Duhawks set a season-high mark
FRIEDMAN GROUP PLAYER OF THE GAME – LORAS VS. SAINT MARY'SLiz Jendra | The senior showcased her versatility in this squad, putting away 10 attacks for kills and adding 14 digs
UP NEXTLoras will finish the their home tournament with matches against St. Ambrose and Wheaton on Saturday. The Bees of St. Ambrose did not compete in the tournament on Friday, while Wheaton went 0-2 with losses to UW-Stout and UW-Platteville.
