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

PELLA, Iowa (Oct. 8, 2021) - Kicking off a weekend of back-to-back contests on the road, the Loras College women's volleyball team (14-3, 3-1 A-R-C) squared off against the Dutch from Central College on Friday night. After dropping the first set of the match, the Duhawks completed a three set comeback to secure the 3-1 match victory for their third conference win of the season. 

The Duhawks got the ball rolling early in the first set, tallying four straight on a pair of kills from Liz Fleckenstein and a service ace from Sara Hoskins, rounded out by a Dutch attacking error to go up 4-0. The Dutch clawed back, though, tying the score at 5-5 and later going on a nine point tear to go ahead 15-7. Despite ongoing efforts to close the score differential, Central took set one by a 25-15 margin. 

Loras began set two much like the first set, going up 4-1 early as Lyndsi Wilgenbusch floored a pair of kills in a three point run. Central came back within two at 8-6 but the Duhawks' offense shined as Olivia Smith and Hoskins notched two straight kills before Krystal Tranel closed out the four point scoring run serving up back-to-back aces to go ahead by six at 12-6. The Duhawks continued to put pressure on the Dutch late in the game, holding the lead and closing out the set by putting six points in a row up on the board on two Dutch attacking errors, two Fleckenstein kills and two aces from Sam Stoffregen, whose second ace of the run put an end to the set at 25-14. 

With the match at an even 1-1, the Duhawks entered the third set riding high on the momentum of the set two victory, opening the third set by going up 4-0 as the Dutch were plagued by errors early, giving Loras three free points on errors. Central fought back from the four point deficit and came within one at 9-8 before Smith floored a kill and Central's Gracie Pierson posted an attacking error to give Loras a three point lead at 11-8. The Duhawks outscored the Dutch 6-1 immediately after, highlighted by Hoskins who was dominant at the service line, putting down three straight aces. Central fought back in the latter half of the game, keeping the score within two before a Dutch bad set and kills from Cat Gleason and Fleckenstein gave the Duhawks three straight points to close out the set with a 25-20 final score. 

The two A-R-C foes traded blows early in the fourth set, seeing the score tie six times before the Duhawks' offense sparked a five point scoring tear on a Dutch error and a pair of kills each for both Fleckenstein and Gleason to bring the score to 13-8. Loras continued to put pressure on Central, going up by eight late in the set on a bad serve followed by two straight kills to see the score at 19-11. The Duhawks put the pedal to the floor later in the set, outscoring the Dutch 6-3 in the closing moments of the set with the Duhawks claiming a 25-16 set victory to take the match 3-1. 

The Duhawks were excellent at the service line, notching an impressive 13 total aces in the match, led by Hoskins and Stoffregen who each had four. Hoskins' four ace night marks a career-best for the sophomore setter. Fleckenstein led the Duhawks offensively at the net with 18 kills while Wilgenbusch and Gleason each had 10 of their own. Hoskins assisted on 40 kills while tallying two blocks in the match. Defensively, Stoffregen had 12 digs followed by Mixan and Hoskins who had 11 and 10, respectively. 

Loras continues their weekend on the road on Saturday, Oct. 9 in Indianola, Iowa as they face the Simpson College Storm. The match is scheduled to begin at 1:00 PM at Cowles Fieldhouse.