DUBUQUE, Iowa (Duhawks.com) - The Loras men's volleyball team suffered its first home loss of the season on Saturday, falling to Aurora in five. Mihajlo Gomez led the Duhawks with 14 kills, besting his previous season-best by 10.

PRESS CONFERENCE (Link)


SERIES NOTABLES
- Saturday served as the first meeting all-time between the two programs .. the Spartans now own a 1-0 advantage 

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Set One
- Loras ran out to a 14-7 lead in the opening frame aided in part to a 6-2 run
- Leading 23-14, Aurora crafted a 5-1 run to cut the Duhawk lead to five at 24-19
- Leo Peters closed the book with an acrobatic kill off an assist from Alfredo Lopez

Set Two
- Loras carried its momentum into the second set and led 12-11 before the Spartans rattled off 12 of the next 17 points to move to set point
- Back-to-back errors by Aurora kept the Duhawks in contention, but a service error leveled the match at one

Set Three
- The Spartans kept all momentum with them in set three, extending a 13-8 lead to 21-8 following an 8-0 run
- Loras' comeback bid was quickly halted after a 4-1 run, as Aurora took set three, 25-13

Fourth Set
- The Duhawks came back to life in the fourth set and forced a Spartan timeout after a 3-0 run that gave Loras a 16-11 lead
- Following the timeout, Aurora went on a 5-0 run only to be answered by a 5-0 run for the Duhawks
- Loras closed out the fourth set and forced a fifth with a kill by Ian Walsh

Fifth Set
- Tied at 9-all after the switch, Aurora tallied five of the next seven points to earn match point
- The Duhawks fought back to level at 15-all, but a pair of Spartan kills coupled with a Loras service error ended the match, 18-16

TEAM NOTABLES
- Loras fell to 0-3 this season when hitting under .200 as a team
- The Duhawks recorded a season-high 24 service errors on Saturday
- Loras fell to 0-1 in five set matches this season
- The 46 digs collected by the Duhawks are the second highest single-match total this season … Loras is 1-2 when totaling 40 or more digs

INDIVIDUAL NOTABLES
- Gomez set season-high's for kills (14), attack percentage (.267) and tied his season-high with two service aces
- After finishing with 10 kills on Saturday, Dylan Ross now has 600 for his career
- Through eight matches this season, Ian Walsh is hitting a team-best .430

FRIEDMAN GROUP PLAYER OF THE GAME - Mihajlo Gomez
- In his first start of the season, Gomez was a staple in the Loras attack, recording at least two kills in each set, including four in Loras' fourth set comeback

UP NEXT
Loras continues its homestand next Friday night in non-conference action, hosting Maranatha Baptist inside the Athletic & Wellness Center. First serve on Friday is scheduled for 7 p.m.