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

RIVER FOREST, Ill. (Feb. 29, 2020) – The Loras College men's volleyball team battled its way back from a first set setback to win the second against No. 7-ranked Dominican University, but the Stars warded off the Duhawks' attempts to comeback swept the next two sets for the win.

Dominican established an early 9-3 lead in the first set and continued to grow the lead despite efforts from Ian Walsh, Dorian Fiorenza, Andres Martinez with kills and service aces. Max Ellenbecker hit a kill to cut Dominican's lead, 16-12, but the Stars maintained momentum en route to a 25-13 win.

Loras came back ready to fight in the second set, keeping the score close throughout the start of the set with kills from Fiorenza, Martinez and Walsh before going on a six-point surge off a service error by Dominican that stalled the Stars at set point. Fiorenza got it rolling for Loras with back-to-back kills and Loras tied the set 24-24, forcing the set to extra points. The Stars had two chances to end the set, but Fiorenza and Walsh teamed up for a pair of kills to bring Loras to set point and a block from Ellenbecker and Walsh gave the Duhawks the win, 29-27.

Dominican rebounded and took back the lead, 11-5 in the third set, but kills by Walsh and Joe Horn dished out kills before Horn teamed up with Ellenbecker for a block to close in on the Stars, 15-19. Dominican gave up some leverage with two errors, but quickly recovered to score five-straight to win the set, 25-17.

Both teams traded points in the fourth set after Jake Filotto served up an ace and Fiorenza tallied back-to-back kills to grab a 5-4 edge over Dominican. The Stars pulled ahead 15-11 and continued to build on the lead despite kills from Horn and Fiorenza to bring them within one point. Dominican gave up three errors in the final points of the set but had enough of a lead to hold on for a 25-22 win.

Fiorenza tallied 16 kills and one ace alongside Walsh and Filotto while Horn led the team with three blocks, 26 assists, and 17 digs. The Duhawks posted a match-high hitting percentage of .265 in the second set and tallied 13 kills.

Loras resumes College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) play on Tuesday, Mar. 3, hosting Augustana College at 7 P.M.