SCOUTING THE HAWKS
The Duhawks' matchup with the Quincy University Hawks will already be their second contest (2015 at IPFW) against Division I/II teams (which are combined for men's volleyball) in the program's short history. Loras takes on another MIVA Conference opponent when they add the Hawks to that list Friday night. The MIVA is one of the strongest conferences in DI/II volleyball and can stake claim to both the national runner-up Lewis and national champion Loyola as members. Quincy has played a tough schedule thus far, facing four nationally-ranked teams and have come out on the losing end of each. Although they enter the week with an 0-4 record, the Hawks have won sets in each of their four matches showing potential for success. In a 3-1 loss at Carthage in their last match, outside hitter Ian Lawson totaled 18 kills and leads the Quincy attack with 48 kills. The Duhawks can also expect middle hitter Jarrod Kelso to get involved in the offense as he comes into the match with 45 kills and a .392 attack percentage.

SCOUTING THE CARDINALS
As was similar to the Duhawks meeting with IIT, Loras faces a matchup with a first-year program whom they have very little background information on. The North Central Cardinals will take on Loras in their first-ever match in school history when they battle each other this weekend. The Cardinals are coached by Kyle Exline, whose resume includes playing and coaching experience at Loyola-Chicago along with, more recently, being a club and high school head coach. As is expected, the North Central roster features all freshman except for one, most of whom hail from Illinois. The Cardinals location in a men's volleyball recruiting "hot-bed"  bodes well for their future as a program.

SCOUTING THE EAGLES
The Benedictine University Eagles will be Loras' most familiar opponent on the weekend slate, with the Duhawks losing three close contests in 2015. In 2016, the Eagles have split their opening matches with a 3-1 victory vs Marian and a 3-1 loss to MSOE coming at a triangular on Tuesday in Milwaukee, Wis. A couple standout performers in those two matches for Benedictine were John Mueller who combined for 19 kills and Sterling Glover who posted 26. The Eagles will take on Loras at the tail end of a four match stretch on Saturday and Sunday at their home arena, The Dan and Ada Rice Center in Lisle, I'll.

ALL-TIME VERSUS BENEDICTINE
The Duhawks come in to this contest with an all-time record of 0-3 versus the Eagles with all three losses coming in Loras' inaugural 2015 campaign. Although Benedictine won a total of nine sets to the Duhawks' one in these matches, the average margin in those victories was just 3.5 points.

LAST MEETING VERSUS BENEDICTINE
In one of the crazier games of the 2015 campaign, Loras dropped their contest 3-1 to the Eagles the last time they faced off, Mar. 11, 2015. TJ Esporas led the way on offense with 12 kills with Shayne Marquez responsible for a majority of those as he registered 27 assists, a career-high in four set matches for the Las Vegas product. Loras claimed victory in set three, 25-22, in the midst of some turmoil following Benedictine's close wins in the first two frames. In set four, the Duhawks let momentum slip away, dropping the clinching set, 25-10.

GROWING UP FAST
Freshman Greg Kinney has shown that he has what it takes to be a Duhawk. In only one week of play thus far, the Las Vegas, Nev. product has proven his worth as Kinney leads the team in killls, aces and digs. Through two games, Kinney is averaging 2.60 kills and digs per set. Alongside Kinney, freshman Ryan Galvan has stepped up for the Duhawks. He averaged 1.67 kills in the team's first two games and has added 1.50 digs per set.

KASPRZAK CLOSING IN ON MILESTONE
Sophomore Dawid Kasprzak has made quite the name for himself being a solid force in the middle for the Duhawks. After 6 combined kills against Lakeland and IIT, Kasprzak is now just 4 kills shy of 100 career kills despite only being a sophomore.

KRASICH HOPES TO ADD SECOND CONFERENCE TITLE TO HIS BELT
A two-sport athlete at Loras, sophomore Danny Krasich has already won a team conference title as a cross country runner during the 2015-2016 school year. When he's not running, Krasich excels as one the two primary setters on the men's volleyball team. In his freshman campaign, Krasich averaged 3.74 assists per set, including a season-high 23 assists in a loss to Benedictine.

MARQUEZ FINDING COMFORT IN SOPHOMORE SEASON
Sophomore Shayne Marquez enters his second season with the Duhawks as one of their two primary setters along with sophomore Danny Krasich. After the Las Vegas, Nevada native averaged 4.67 assists/set last season, he got off to a great start in Loras' first two matches this campaign. Marquez recorded 17 assists in a win against Illinois Tech and 12 in the Duhawks' second match against Lakeland. If Marquez can maintain his average of 6.5 assists per set, Loras' offense will be in elite form.