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

KENOSHA, Wis. (Feb. 19, 2021) - The Loras College men's volleyball team (1-2, 0-1 CCIW) opened conference play against nationally ranked College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) powerhouse Carthage College (4-0, 2-0 CCIW) but kept the Firebirds on edge throughout the match, forcing a close contest despite falling 25-22, 25-17, 25-23. 

Carthage took an early lead in the first set with Bryce Thomas at the serve, but Tucker Ziegerhorn put the Duhawks on the board with a kill assisted by Joe Horn. The Duhawks continued to slowly come back at the Firebirds before a number of back-to-back scoring efforts tied the set at 13-13 on an attacking error committed by Carthage's Carter Schmidt. The set tied six more times late in the set before a Gene Mcnulty service ace put and end to the set at 25-22. 

Back and forth scoring took place early in the second set, seeing the Duhawks strike first on a kill by sophomore Dorian Fiorenza. The teams traded points until Carthage pulled away scoring six straight to go ahead 10-5. Later in the set, the Duhawks put two straight points on the board on a service error by Schmidt followed by a service ace by Loras' Jake Filotto. Another two point run occured at the end of the set on a kill by senior Andres Martinez and Ziegerhorn but the Firebird again took the set 25-17. 

As was the case in the first two sets, the Duhawks held tight with the Firebirds, trading blows back and forth early before taking a lead on the Firebird after scoring three straight to go ahead 6-4. Loras held the lead until a Loras service error and two attacking errors put Carthage ahead by one at 11-10. As the set pushed forward, the Duhawks stayed on top of their nationally ranked foes, tying the set late at 22-22 on back to back kills from the hands of Filotto and Fiorenza. Carthage answered with two points of their own, followed by an Andres Martinez kill to bring the Duhawks within one, but the Firebirds emerged victorious 25-23. 

Fiorenza led the match with 12 kills in the match, followed by Patrick Mahoney with six on the night and Martinez who had three of his own. Filotto and Fiorenza both recorded service aces for the Duhawks. Mahoney led the match at the net defensively with three blocks to his name, while Horn had two and Fiorenza posted one. 

The Duhawks return to the court for their home opener against Millikin University on Wednesday, Feb 24. The match is due to begin at 7:30 PM at Lillis Court.