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

CHICAGO, Ill. (Feb. 28, 2020) – The Loras College men's volleyball team (9-4, 3-1 CCIW) scored its second-straight College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) win on Friday night against North Park University (3-10, 1-3 CCIW), using a full team effort to defeat the Vikings, 3-1.

Loras opened the first set with a 4-1 lead with kills by Dorian Fiorenza and Patrick Mahoney as well as back-to-back service aces by Fiorenza. The Duhawks maintained momentum with Ian Walsh and Andres Martinez getting in on the action and helping Loras to a 21-13 lead. Fiorenza and Jake Filotto added two more kills to put Loras ahead of North Park by ten and a block by Fiorenza and Mahoney closed out the first set with a 25-16 win for the Duhawks.

North Park opened the second set with three errors to give the lead but regained composure and challenged the Duhawks throughout the middle of the set. Kills by David Beach, Walsh and Martinez helped Loras hold a one-point advantage against the Vikings at 17-16, but North Park rallied back to score four-straight and take the first lead of the set. A service ace by Patrick Hollander tied the set 20 all and forced North Park to call a timeout. Both teams fought hard for the final points, it was the Vikings who came out with the 25-23 win.

Max Ellenbecker got the offense rolling in the third set with a kill and Loras soon took a 4-1 lead. A kill and ace for North Park brought the Vikings within one but it was the closest they would come to the Duhawks for the remainder of the match as Loras maintained at least a two-point cushion throughout, thanks to the help of Hollander, Fiorenza, Walsh, Martinez and Filotto. Joe Horn came in for the Duhawks as the setter midway through the set and helped set up four kills to put Loras ahead, 2-1 with a 25-23 win.

Two kills from Fiorenza and one by Ellenbecker helped Loras pull ahead 4-0 early in the fourth set but the Vikings were up for the challenge, soon cutting the score 9-8. A kill by Horn gave the Duhawks a 19-13 lead and he and Martinez worked together for the next three points to inch Loras closer to match point, 21-17. Joe Berka set up Horn for a kill and two attacking errors by the Vikings put Loras at match point, but North Park forced the Duhawks to commit two errors of their own and kept the match going. Ellenbecker was ready to finish it and off the assist from Horn, he hit the game winning kill to help Loras improve to 3-1 in CCIW play.

Fiorenza had 14 kills in the win as well as a team-high five service aces and shared the lead with Mahoney at the net with four blocks. Jake Filotto tallied 14 digs and Ryne Anders added 12 while Patrick Hollander lent a hand with 20 assists.

Loras plays another match in Windy City on Saturday, Feb. 29 against No. 7-ranked Dominican University. First serve is scheduled for 1 P.M.