RIVER FOREST, Ill. (Duhawks.com) - The Loras men's volleyball team dropped a 3-0 road match to 12th-ranked Dominican on Saturday afternoon. As a team, the Duhawks hit .229 and recorded eight assisted blocks.
FRIEDMAN GROUP PLAYER OF THE GAME
Austin Kuchenbecker | From the middle, Kuchenbecker recorded five kills and one block assist, finishing in an .833 attack percentage.
POST GAME NOTES - In the Duhawks' second league match in as many days, they faced the No. 12-ranked Dominican Stars.
- Dominican jumped out to a lead early in the opening frame as a Mason Solbrig kill made the score 5-2 in their favor.
- Loras fought back to close down the gap and found themselves trailing by just one at 8-7 after a kill from freshman Austin Kuchenbecker and a service error from Jeremy Royko.
- However, the Stars used a four-point run with the score 10-8 to take a sizeable six-point lead.
- Both teams traded points for the remainder of the period with Dominican closing out set one thanks to a Robert Mead service ace.
- Middle hitters Kuchenbecker and sophomore Jimmy Combs each recorded three kills in set one.
- Set two was much more back-and-forth as both sides jockeyed for the lead for much of the stanza.
- With the score at 16-15 in Dominican's favor after a kill from freshman Greg Kinney, the Stars used a three-point run to get ahead, prompting a Loras timeout.
- After the timeout, Loras shifted momentum back to their favor, resulting in a four-point run, which included a service ace by freshman Alfredo Lopez.
- After a Dominican timeout, the Stars managed to put a halt to Loras' run and scored six of the final eight points to take the set, 25-21.
- Sophomore Dylan Ross fueled the Duhawk attack in set two, converting three kills on five attacks while adding three digs.
- In the third and final set, Dominican raced out to an early 13-6 lead.
- Loras did its best to make a game of things after the cushion as they used a run of their own, with the help of a few Star attacking errors, to make the score just 21-18.
- The Duhawks could not get any closer than this as Dominican closed out the set 25-21, and won the match in straight sets.
- Ross and Kuchenbecker led the way for Loras in offensive efficiency, hitting .417 and .833 respectively.
- Freshman Greg Kinney and Combs each totaled seven kills on the afternoon.
- Loras drops to 5-6 overall and 0-2 in MCVL play.
UP NEXT
Loras will make its way back to the Chicagoland area next week for a MCVL tilt with North Central. The Cardinals lost to Benedictine on Saturday, 3-0. In their first meeting this season, North Central claimed victory in five sets.
