Contact: Nathan Cameron, Assistant Director of Athletic Communications, 563-588-7243

WAVERLY, Iowa (Oct. 13, 2021) - After a four-day break from action, the Loras College women's volleyball team (14-5, 3-3 A-R-C) was on the road again Wednesday night as they traveled to Waverly, Iowa to go toe-to-toe with the No. 5 ranked Wartburg College Knights (21-0, 5-0 A-R-C). The Duhawks' grit was on display at Levick Arena as they closed out the third set by scoring four straight to force the match into a neck and neck fourth set, but the Knights held off the attack to take the match 3-1. 

The beginning of the first set saw the two teams keep the score close with a pair of kills from Lyndsi Wilgenbusch and Sara Hoskins to pull the Duhawks within one at 5-4. Wartburg pulled ahead soon thereafter, putting seven straight up on the board to take an eight point lead in the middle of the set. Down by eight at 17-9, the Duhawks sparked a comeback as Moira Mixan floored back-to-back kills followed by an Olivia Smith kill and a Knights error to bring the Duhawks within five. The end of the set saw Loras outscore Wartburg 5-3 but the Knights held on to take the set 25-18. 

The Knights jumped ahead by three early in the second set but Cat Gleason spoiled the scoring run with a kill that was followed by a pair of Wilgenbusch kills to tie the score back up at 3-3. The score tied three more times before Wilgenbusch, Mixan and Smith each recorded kills followed by three straight Knight errors that put the Duhawks up by five at 11-6. Wartburg put an end to the Duhawks' run and jump started one of their own, scoring nine straight to take a four point lead before James Keefe tallied a kill to stop the Knights' momentum. The Duhawks came back within two at 19-17, 20-18 and 21-19 but the set closed out on four straight Wartburg points to see the Knights go up 2-0 going into the third. 

The Duhawks took an early 6-4 lead in the third set of the match before Wartburg responded by scoring nine straight to take a seven point lead at 13-6. Loras was far from out of the set, however, taking advantage of Wartburg's offensive woes with five points of a seven-point run came from Knight errors while Hoskins and Smith rounded the run out with a kill apiece. From that point on, the score tied four times before Wartburg took a two point lead at 19-17 but the Duhawks continued to grind and keep the score close. The effort paid off late in the set as the Duhawks went on a four-point run highlighted by Liz Fleckenstein who floored a pair of kills in the run while Mixan added one while the Knights gave another free point on an attacking error to force the match into a fourth set with the 25-23 set victory going to the Duhawks. 

The fourth set saw the Duhawks take an early 6-1 lead with Gleason accounting for three of the five straight points the Duhawks scored on a kill and two straight service aces. The score stayed in favor of Loras before Wartburg tied the game back up at 9-9. In what ended up being the closest contested set of the match, the score tied six times before the Knights pulled ahead by three at 20-17. Again, the Duhawks clawed back and scored three straight on a Wilgenbusch kill, a Wartburg error and another Gleason ace to tie the game again at 21-21. Wartburg fought off the Duhawks' pressure, though and took the fourth set by a narrow 25-23 margin. 

Offensively, the Duhawks played the Knights close, hitting .151 percent in the match while the Knights hit .164 percent with the Duhawks tallying 54 kills to the Knights' 50. Wilgenbusch led the Duhawks' attack with match-leading 16 kills in the match while Fleckenstein added 13 and Mixan with ten. Gleason recorded the Duhawks' three service aces in the match with all three coming in the fourth set while Hoskins excelled on both sides of the net with three total blocks and 46 assists on the night. Libero Krystal Tranel notched 19 digs while Fleckenstein had 18 and Mixan with 16. 

The Duhawks are back in action on Friday, Oct. 15 as they travel to Decatur, Ill. to take on the Millikin University Big Blue in the opening night of the two-day Millikin Five State Classic. The match is scheduled to begin at 5:00 PM at the Griswold Center.