Contact: Emily Zadny, Director of Athletic Communications, 563-588-7970

Box Score vs. Marian
Box Score vs. IIT

LAKE FOREST, Ill. (Aug. 31, 2019) – The Loras College women's volleyball team opened the 2019 campaign with a pair of wins on the first day of the Forester Invitational, hosted by Lake Forest College, on Friday, taking a 3-1 win against the Marian University Sabrecats (0-2) and a 3-0 sweep of the Illinois Institute of Technology Scarlet Hawks (0-2) later that evening.

The Duhawks got on the board early in the first set with a block from Lyndsi Wilgenbusch and Jackie Alberto, but Marian capitalized on a string of errors by the Duhawks to take a 5-3 lead. Kayla Kinney came up with two kills off the hands of Jessalyn Roling and Alberto added a solo block to give Loras a 7-5 but again fell behind 18-12 after multiple attacking errors, forcing head coach Jenna Ness to use her first timeout. Coming out of the break, Moira Mixan scored a kill for the Duhawks and Alberto added another block to spark a three-point run for the Loras to pull within two. Marian called a timeout which led to the Duhawks scoring five straight points to take the lead, 22-20 en route to a 25-22 victory.

Loras established its lead early in the second set, starting with a kill from Abby Allgeyer to put the Duhawks ahead, 6-0. The Sabrecats denied a seventh-straight point for Loras with a block on an attacking attempt from Kayla Kinney, but Wilgenbusch rallied back with a kill to get the Duhawks started on another six-point run to lead 12-1. Loras held onto the lead for the remainder of the set and sealed the second-set with a 25-11 win off a kill from Kelly Boge.

The tables turned in the third set as Marian jumped ahead with a 5-2 lead, but a service error set Allgeyer up for a kill off the hands of Roling and take the lead 6-5 thanks to a service ace from Mixan. Both teams battled in the heart of the set, trading the lead five times before the Sabrecats scored four-straight to bring on set point. A kill from Allgeyer denied the Sabrecats from taking the second set without going into extra points, but two unfortunate Duhawk errors tipped the score in favor of Marian, 27-25, to force a fourth set.

The Duhawks were not looking to go into a five-set battle to start the season and took a 10-5 lead in the fourth set off kills from Kinney, Allgeyer, Boge and Roling. Loras extended the lead 14-7 but the Sabrecats rallied back to cut the score 15-13, forcing a timeout for the Duhawks to regroup. A kill from Kinney and block from Alberto gave Loras a four-point lead, but Marian fired back three-straight points to come within one. It was not enough for the Sabrecats as Loras' offense was ready, firing off seven kills and a service ace to win the set, 25-22 and earn the first win of the season.

Wilgenbusch led the Duhawks with 11 kills while Kinney added ten and Allgeyer had eight. Mixan had four service aces while Alberto had seven blocks and libero Krystal Tranel had 19 digs. As a team, Loras had 13 blocks to the Sabrecats' four and recorded 54 kills in the four sets.

In the nightcap, the Duhawks held a brief 3-1 lead off a service ace from Tranel to open the first set, but IIT soon pulled ahead 10-8. A kill and ace from Kinney and a block from Alberto and Wilgenbusch put Loras ahead 11-10 but the team was quickly forced to play catch up, falling behind 21-17. The Duhawks remained calm and tallied four-straight points to tie the set, but IIT tacked on three of their own to come to set point. Kills from Alberto and Allgeyer tied the set one more time at 24-24 before a block from Wilgenbsuch and Alberto closed the door on the Scarlet Hawks to win the set, 26-24.

Loras found itself on the wrong end of a 13-8 score in the second set, but two crucial defensive stops from Roling and Boge tied the set 15-15. Both teams battled to hold onto the lead but it was the Duhawks who held on thanks to three kills from Wilgenbusch in the late points of the set to win the third and the match, 25-23.

Kinney tallied ten kills in the second match and Allgeyer had two assists. Boge came away with four blocks while Wilgenbusch and Alberto had three each and Tranel recorded 13 digs. Loras had ten blocks to the Scarlet Hawks' two and had a match-best .370 hitting percentage in the third set.

Loras (2-0) competes on Day 2 of the Forester Invitational, playing St. Mary's College at 11 a.m. and the host team, Lake Forest, at 1 p.m. A link to watch both matches live can be found HERE.