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

LINCOLN, Neb. (Feb. 19, 2021) - The Loras College women's volleyball team made the trek to Lincoln, Neb. to kick off their season at Nebraska Wesleyan University. The Duhawks swept the Prairie Wolves in three straight sets, marking first year head coach Kristy Duncan's first victory at the helm for Loras.

The Duhawks dominated the entire match, starting in the first set where the lead changed three times early before a four point scoring run put Loras ahead 7-4. Loras continued to steadily chip away at the Prairie Wolves in the middle part of the set, going up by seven, scoring three consecutive points on a Kelsie Stovall service error for Nebraska Wesleyan, followed by an ace at the hand of Talia McAtee and a ball handling error by Grace Hogeland. Moira Mixan put a close to the first set to put the Duhawks ahead 1-0 going into the second. 

As was the story in the first, the early portion of the second set saw both sides trade blows with the score tying five times before the Duhawks scored back to back points both on kills by Mixan assisted by returning All-Conference libero Krystal Tranel. The Prairie Wolves' solid effort late in the set put them within one of the Duhawks at 18-17, but an attack error by Hannah Domandle followed by another kill by Mixan widened the lead in favor or Loras. In copycat fashion from the first set, it was again Mixan who ended the set with a 25-23 set victory. 

Set three leaned heavily in favor of the Duhawks, who went on an early five point scoring run to go ahead 7-2. In the remainder of the set, Loras held the Prairie Wolves to a mere 10 points to win 25-10, opening their American Rivers Conference schedule with a 3-0 win. 

Leading the charge offensively for the Duhawks was Mixan, who recorded 15 kills on the night followed by sophomore Jade Casper who posted 14 of her own. Returning All-Conference middle blocker Jackie Alberto added to the attack with 11 kills. Mixan, McAtee, Liz Fleckenstein and Sam Stroffregen all posted one service ace a piece for the Duhawks. Alberto highlighted the Loras defense with three blocks in the match, followed by Tranel with two and Mixan who had one. 

The Duhawks return to the court on Tuesday, Feb. 23 as they play host to crosstown rival the University of Dubuque. The match is set to start at 7:30 PM at Lillis Court.