ST. PAUL, Minn. (Duhawks.com) – In their first tournament appearance of the season, the Loras Women's Volleyball team split on opening day following matches against College of St. Scholastica and Dominican University. The Duhawks handed St. Scholastica their first loss of the season in a five match thriller (25-19, 20-25, 30-28, 19-25, 15-13) before falling in straight sets to Dominican (25-17, 25-22, 25-15).

Loras (2-1) won a hard fought first set against the Saints, trailing 12-11 prior to ending the set on a 5-0 run. Nine errors in the fourth set allowed for St. Scholastica to gain momentum heading into the final frame. Set four was the only set of the match in which the Duhawks were outhit by the Saints (.136 to .364).

With the fifth set even at 13, the Duhawks called on the experience of junior Therese Schultz and senior Liz Jendra to finish the match. Both responded with late kills to put away the Saints for good and earn the win for the Duhawks.

Sophomore Haley Bergan tied a career-high in digs with 32 against St. Scholastica, a number which ranks fifth all-time in program history. Freshman Claire Ritchie led the team in kills for the first time in her career (13) and tallied her first career triple-double (13 kills, 31 assists, and 12 digs).

Things didn't fall in the Duhawks favor against the Stars (2-1) however, as they were held to a .078 hitting percentage over three sets. Dominican's defense was on point, recording 11 blocks and severely limiting Loras' ability to mobilize their offense.

The loss to Dominican marks the first loss of the season for the Duhawks who will look to add two more wins to their season tally tomorrow.
 
Key Moments
Set 1 | LOR/CSS | A late kill from Claire Ritchie sparked a 5-0 run to end the first set
Set 3 | LOR/CSS |Trailing 28-27 late in the third set, a kill from Reilly Kuhn knotted the set at 28 and eventually led to a 30-28 victory
Set 5 | LOR/CSS |A late substitution of senior Liz Jendra proved worthwhile, Jendra entered the game at 14-13 and ended with the match winning kill
Set 1 | LOR/DU | With the set tied at 11, the Stars went on a 14-6 run to take the first set
Set 2 | LOR/DU | Despite an early 7-2 advantage, the Duhawks found themselves trailing 23-22 late in the second … A Dominican timeout allowed for them to set up their next two plays and close out the set 25-22
 
THE FRIEDMAN GROUP PLAYER OF THE DAY
Haley Bergan | Bergan tied a career-high in digs against St. Scholastica with 32. On day one of the tournament Bergan recorded a total of 54 digs (6.75/set).
 
UP NEXT
Loras will continue their play in Minnesota at the Northwestern Labor Day Tournament tomorrow. The Duhawks will face Northwestern in the morning prior to finishing their tournament run against St. Benedict.