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

Oct. 22, 2021 - Returning home after a two-week stretch on the road, the Loras College women's volleyball team (16-9, 4-3 A-R-C) played host to the Nebraska Wesleyan University Prairie Wolves (9-11, 1-5 A-R-C) at the Patrick J. Lillis Athletic & Wellness Center Friday night. The Duhawks dominated at the service line, amassing 13 service aces in the three set match to earn their fourth American Rivers Conference (A-R-C) contest of the season. 

Nebraska Wesleyan got on the board first in set number one of the match but the Duhawks quickly took at 3-2 lead on a pair of kills from Liz Fleckenstein and Cat Gleason. The two teams battled through the middle of the set with the Prairie Wolves holding a narrow lead until they pulled away by five at 15-10 when they scored three straight. The lead didn't last long, though, as the Duhawks went on a scoring tear, putting up seven in a row with senior libero Krystal Tranel owning the service line with three aces in the run. Fleckenstein also accounted for three of the seven points with three kills of her own while a Nebraska Wesleyan error rounded out the scoring to put the Duhawks up 19-17. The score tied three more times before back-to-back Prairie Wolf errors closed out the set in favor of the Duhawks with a 25-23 final score. 

A Fleckenstein kill started off set number two for the Duhawks but the Prairie Wolves fought right back to take a three point lead at 5-2 before an attacking error put Gleason at the service line who put down two straight aces to tie the score back at 5-5. Nebraska Wesleyan responded with a kill to take the lead once more but the lead was immediately taken back by the Duhawks on a pair of kills from Lyndsi Wilgenbusch and Olivia Smith to give Loras a two point advantage at 8-6. From that point forward, the Duhawks didn't look back, outscoring the Prairie Wolves 8-2 in the middle of the set to take a comfortable lead at 16-9. Later in the set the Duhawks pulled away by 11 points when they scored four straight on three Nebraska Wesleyan errors and a Wilgenbusch kill to bring the score to 23-12. The Duhawks took advantage of two Prairie Wolf errors at the end of the set to go ahead two sets to none with a final set score of 25-15. 

The Duhawks went up by four from the jump in the third set of the match, highlighted by a pair of kills from Gleason and Moira Mixan and a service ace from Talia McAtee. The Prairie Wolves tried to make a comeback as the two teams traded scoring but a Fleckenstein kill followed by an attacking error widened the Loras lead to five at 11-6. The Prairie Wolves' grit was on display in the middle of the set as they took their first lead of the set at 14-13 and went ahead by two at 15-13 before Wilgenbusch snatched the lead right back with three straight kills that was followed by a Prairie Wolves error and rounded out by two straight aces from Mixan to bring the score to 19-15. The Duhawks put up three more in a row moments later on another Wilgenbusch kill, a Nebraska Wesleyan error and a Sam Stoffregen service ace to widen the lead to six but again the Prairie Wolves fought right back and brought the score within two at 22-20. Fleckenstein and Mixan notched a kill apiece to see the score at match point for the Duhawks where Gleason hammered home a huge kill to secure the three set sweep with a final set score of 25-22. 

The Duhawks were red hot at the service line with 13 total aces in the match, led by Tranel who had three while Mixan, McAtee, Stoffregen, Gleason and Sara Hoskins each had two apiece. Wilgenbusch led the team in kills in the match with 11 to her name while Fleckenstein added nine and Gleason had eight. Defensively, Smith held down the net with four total blocks in the match, joined by Hoskins who had three and Fleckenstein who tallied two. Hoskins led the match with 19 digs while Tranel had 17 and Mixan posted 15. 

Loras returns to action on Saturday, Oct. 23 as they celebrate Senior Day against the Buena Vista University Beavers. The match is set to begin at 1:00 PM inside the Patrick J. Lillis Athletic & Wellness Center.