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

RIPON, Wis. (Oct. 29, 2021) - Coming off of a pair of wins in the last week against Buena Vista University and Monmouth College, the Loras College women's volleyball team (19-9, 5-3 A-R-C) upped their win streak to three games as they downed the Ripon College Redhawks (9-17, 1-6 Midwest) in straight sets. Friday's win marks the Duhawks' third sweep in a row as Moira Mixan jumped to third all-time in career service aces with 144 in her career after flooring four against the Redhawks. 

Liz Fleckenstein put the Duhawks ahead from the jump in the first set with her first kill of the night before Loras found themselves quickly ahead at 6-2 after scoring three straight on a pair of kills from Mixan and Lyndsi Wilgenbusch, rounded out by a Ripon attacking error. Loras continued to hold the lead and widened it by a comfortable ten point margin after scoring seven straight with three coming from kills from Wilgenbusch and two from Mixan service aces to bring the score to 13-3. Ripon slowly made their way back into the game, finding themselves down by only five at 23-18 before Wilgenbusch floored a kill to bring the score to set point in favor of the Duhawks with the game closing out on a Redhawks error to give Loras the 25-19 victory. 

Set two opened with two straight kills from Fleckenstein and Cat Gleason before back-to-back Ripon errors gave the Duhawks an immediate four point lead. The Duhawks then pounced on the Redhawks a mere moments later, tallying 13 straight points with only six of the points coming on Redhawks errors as the Loras offense continued flexing their strengths to bring the score to 20-5. The Redhawks ended the streak by scoring four of their own before the two foes traded blows back in fourth in the closing moments of the match as an Olivia Smith kill put an end to the set with a final score of 25-13 in favor of the Duhawks. 

Mixan floored a kill to get the third set going for the Duhawks but Ripon responded with two kills of their own to take their first lead of the night. The lead was short lived, however, as a Redhawks error tied the game back at 2-2 before a Mixan kill, a Talia McAtee service ace, followed by a Wilgenbusch kill gave the Duhawks a three point lead at 5-2. Ripon kept things close in the middle of the set, coming back from a four point deficit to be within one of the Duhawks at 9-8 before Loras took a five point lead again at 13-8 on two straight Fleckenstein kills and two Ripon errors. The Duhawks continued to steadily put pressure on the Redhawks through the middle of the set before four straight points on three kills and a Mixan ace brought the score to 23-14. One last chance effort by Ripon brought the Redhawks within five before Fleckenstein ended the match with a kill to secure the three set sweep. 

Wilgebusch led the Duhawks offensively with 13 kills in the match Fleckenstein added 12 of her own. Mixan excelled at the service line with four on the night while Sam Stoffregen recorded two and Gleason, Sarah Hoskins and McAtee each had one apiece. Smith locked down the Duhawks defense at the net with four total blocks in the match while Fleckenstein and Gleason each tallied two. Libero Krystal Tranel recorded 15 digs in the match with Stoffregen notching 12 and Mixan adding 11. 

The Duhawks continue their weekend on the road in Milwaukee, Wis. on Saturday, Oct. 30 as they take on Wisconsin Lutheran College and Elmhurst University at the Warriors Invitational hosted by Wisconsin Lutheran College. Loras is slated to face Elmhurst at 12:00 PM followed by Wisconsin Lutheran at 2:00 PM.