DUBUQUE, Iowa (Duhawks.com) - The Loras Women's Volleyball team ended a six-match skid against Wartburg on Tuesday night, besting the Knights in five sets to earn their first win in Iowa Conference play. Freshman Claire Ritchie paced the offense with 15 kills, 22 assists and 12 digs, while senior Liz Jendra added 28 digs and three assisted blocks.

Coming off a disappointing 3-0 sweep to Luther last week in the IIAC opener, the Duhawks (5-8, 1-1 IIAC) showed a new look on the court, which paid its dividends immediately, as Loras jumped out to a 17-10 lead in the first set. The Duhawks' offense was aggressive and quick, which kept Wartburg's blocking defense in check. The Knights refused to go quietly, battling back to draw level at 24. The two sides traded blows up to 27-all before a kill from freshman Jenna LaCorte and an attacking error from Wartburg earned Loras the 29-27 win.

One key to Loras' fast start was the defensive effort from Jendra. She stymied the Wartburg attack early on, collecting eight of her 28 digs in the first set alone.

With the 1-0 lead in the match, the Duhawks knew that the Knights were going to retaliate with a vengeance. In the early goings of the second set, both sides kept close to one another, but midway through the set, Wartburg (9-3, 1-1 IIAC) went on a 16-7 run to make it 22-14. Back-to-back kills from LaCorte brought Loras to within seven at 23-16, but that would be as close as Loras managed to get, falling 25-17 in set two.

Wartburg's adjustments continued to to be effective into the third set as the Knights scored 10 of the first 15 points to take a 10-5 lead. Once again, Wartburg's consistent play was put on display, resulting in a 25-20 win in set three and a 2-1 advantage in the match.

The Knights were in possession of the momentum entering the fourth set and built a 13-6 lead over Loras. But just as quickly as Wartburg built their lead, it was erased thanks to a 13-6 run for Loras that saw the match tied at 19-all. From there, the teams traded points back and forth until junior Miriam McKee was subbed on and tipped a ball over the net for a kill to make it 24-22 Duhawks. Ritchie eventually put the set away with a kill to level the match at two games a piece. Junior Therese Schultz matched Ritchie's effort in the fourth set with three kills on seven attacks and no errors.

Reeling off their fourth set victory, Loras continued to push the tempo and attack aggressively in the fifth set. Wartburg weathered the storm and built a 7-4 lead, prompting a timeout from Head Coach Jenna Ness. The break in play worked to Loras' advantage, as the Duhawks 5-1 run and force a timeout from the Wartburg bench.

After a ball handling error from Schultz leveled the match at 9-all, Loras ripped off five straight points, all on kills, to take a commanding 14-9 lead. During the run, Ritchie put away three attacks for kills, while junior Danni Kennedy added two. Kennedy put the match away with her 12th kill of the night to lift the Duhawks to the five-set victory.