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

DECATUR, Ill. (Oct. 16, 2021) - Wrapping up their weekend in Decatur, Ill., the Loras College women's volleyball team (15-7, 3-3 A-R-C) faced off against the Albion College Britons (15-6, 4-2 MIAA) and the Trine University Thunder (14-14, 3-2 MIAA) in the last day of the Five State Classic, hosted by Millikin University. After dropping the first match of the day to Albion, the Duhawks bounced back to defeat Trine 3-1, led by Moira Mixan who had a season-best 14 kills to help solidify the win. 

The first match of the day saw Loras take on Albion, with the Duhawks taking advantage of an Albion ball handling error to get on the board first before the Britons came back to go ahead 4-2 early. Lyndsi Wilgenbusch took the Duhawks soaring back into the lead immediately after, helping guide the Duhawks to an 8-4 lead after scoring six straight with four of the six points coming on Wilgenbusch kills. The two teams battled through the middle of the set with the score tying five times before Liz Fleckenstein and Mixan floored a pair of kills in a three-point Loras scoring run that gave the Duhawks the lead once more at 15-12. The Duhawks held onto the lead toward the end of the set but the Britons made their way back to tie the score again at 18-18 before they outscored Loras 7-1 to close out the first set with a 25-19 victory. 

Set two saw Albion jump out to an early three point lead at 4-1 but the Duhawks continued to fight, holding the score close until the middle of the set when the Britons again went up by three at 15-12. Albion's offense began to crumble in the middle of the set, giving the Duhawks four free point on four straight errors to give Loras the lead at 16-15. The score tied again at 16-16 but the Duhawks put their foot on the gas and powered forward, outscoring the Britons 8-2 to take a comfortable set point lead at 24-18 before Fleckenstein sealed the deal for Loras, flooring a kill to close out the set 25-19 to tie the match score at 1-1 going into the third. 

The score tied four in the beginning of the third set before the Duhawks jumped ahead by three at 8-5 on a Fleckenstein kill and an Albion error. The score stayed neck and neck, tying at 12-12 and again at 14-14 before Albion went ahead by two at 16-14 after posting four straight. Down by three in the latter part of the set, the Duhawks again took advantage of Albion's offensive errors, receiving three points on hitting errors that tied the score one again at 18-18. Shortly after, the Britons scored four straight to gain the lead and secure the set victory at 25-20. 

Albion went ahead early again in the fourth set, owning a five point lead at 7-2 before the Duhawks started to claw back on back-to-back kills from Mixan and Wilgenbusch to cut the deficit to three. The Britons continued to hold the lead in the middle of the set but the Duhawks offense picked up on a kill from Olivia Smith that jump started a four-point scoring run that saw James Keefe and Mixan post kills while Sam Stoffregen added an ace with the run rounded out by an Albion error to bring the Duhawks back within two at 11-9. Later in the set and own by a single point, the Duhawks went on a five point tear, highlighted by kills from Mixan, Keefe and Cat Gleason that gave the Duhawks the lead at 18-15. Loras continued to hold the lead through the end of the set but the Britons' offense pushed back and scored six straight to close out the set 25-20 and take the match 3-1. 

Fleckenstein led the Duhawks attack with 16 kills while Wilgenbusch added 15 and Mixan with 11. The Duhawks had six service aces in the match with two coming off the serve of Stoffregen while Mixan, Fleckenstein, Gleason and Sara Hoskins each added one apiece. Defensively, Gleason excelled at the net with four total blocks while Mixan and Fleckenstein added two each. Libero Krystal Tranel put up 24 digs joined by Hoskins with 22 and Fleckenstein with 15. 

The set match of the day saw the Duhawks take on the Thunder from Trine University with the Duhawks going ahead by three immediately in the first set on a pair of Fleckenstein kills and a Hoskins ace. The Duhawks continued to hold the lead through the middle of the set, outscoring the Thunder 7-1 to take a comfortable seven point lead at 14-7. Moments later, back-to-back kills from Gleason and Fleckenstein followed by a Trine error gave the Duhawks a nine point lead at 17-8. Loras held the lead through the end of the set, holding off any attempt Trine made to come back with the set closing out on two straight Thunder errors to give the Duhawks a 25-15 set victory. 

A kill from Gleason put the Duhawks on the board first in the second set before two straight kills from Wilgenbusch and a Trine error put the Duhawks up by three at 5-2. In the middle portion of the set, the Duhawks jumped ahead by five on a Trine service error followed by a Fleckenstein service ace to bring the score to 12-7. Later in the set, Wilgenbusch took the Duhawks' lead to six points as she floored a kill assisted by Hoskins to bring the score to 18-12. The Duhawks continued to press forward, closing out the set by scoring three straight points on a pair of kills from Wilgenbusch and Mixan with the set ending on a Trine error to give Loras the 25-20 win to go ahead 2-0 after two sets of play. 

The third set saw the two teams trade blows back and forth before Trine's offense took off, scoring 13 straight points before Keefe spoiled the run with a kill that sparked a three point scoring run for the Duhawks to bring the score to 18-8. The end of the set saw the Duhawks' offense pick up, outscoring the Thunder 6-2 but Trine held on to their lead to force a fourth set and take the third set 25-17. 

Set number four saw both teams take turns scoring, much like the set prior, but this time the Duhawks broke the stalemate and came out ahead on a pair of Fleckenstein kills and two Trine errors to give the Duhawks a four point lead at 8-4. In the middle of the set, Tranel notched a kill followed by a Stoffregen ace that gave Loras a comfortable five point lead at 16-11. The Thunder came right back at the Duhawks, though, scoring six points to the Duhawks' one to tie the score back up at 17-17 near the end of the set. The tie got kicked the Loras offense into gear, seeing Gleason floor a kill, Hoskins down an ace and Fleckenstein round out a four point scoring run with a kill of her own to bring the score to 21-17 in favor of the Duhawks. Loras held on to the lead through the end of the set with the match closing out on back-to-back Wilgenbusch kills to solidify the 25-19 victory. 

Mixan had a season-high 14 kills in the match against Trine, followed by Fleckenstein and Gleason who added 12 each. Tranel and Hoskins each put down two service aces while Fleckenstein, Stoffregen and Gleason each had one apiece. Gleason excelled defensively with four total blocks, joined by Mixan and Hoskins who added two each while Fleckenstein put up 16 digs. Tranel and Hoskins each helped defensively with 15 digs each while Hoskins notched 47 assists in the match. 

The Duhawks are back on the road on Tuesday, Oct. 19 as they head up to St. Paul, Minn. to take on University of Northwestern (Minn.) and Gustavus Adolphus College in the UNW Triangular. The Duhawks are set to face Northwestern at 3:00 PM followed by Gustavus at 5:00 PM at Ericksen Court.