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

Mar. 13, 2021 - The No. 21 Loras College women's volleyball team (6-1, 5-1 A-R-C) faced the Buena Vista University Beavers  (2-4, 2-4 A-R-C) in an American Rivers Conference bout at Lillis Court on Saturday afternoon. Sophomore Talia McAtee had a stellar outing for the Duhawks both offensively and defensively, recording a career-high two service aces and career-high 19 digs against the Beavers to help secure the 3-0 victory.

The match opened with a Duhawk service error that put Buena Vista on the board first, but a five point run immediately ensued, sparked by Moira Mixan who put down a kill to tie the score back up. Jackie Alberto followed suit with a kill of her own that was followed by two straight attacking errors from Buena Vista's Hanna Smith. Mixan posted the fifth point of the run with a service ace on Jade Hays to go ahead 5-1. Another Loras service error added another point to the board for the Beavers but again, the Duhawks responded aggresively by putting up six straight with only one point coming from an error from the Beavers. Lyndsi Wilgenbusch and Mixan recorded a kill apiece in the run while Jade Casper put down two and Talia McAtee added an ace to go ahead by nine. The two teams traded blows in the middle portion of the set but the Duhawks outscored the Beavers 6-1 to close the door on the first set with Olivia Smith slamming down a kill to record the first set victory by a score of 25-12. 

The Beavers took note of the Duhawks' attack after falling in the first set but the effort showed to come up short in the end. The second set kicked off with two straight kills from Wilgenbusch and Alberto but three straight from the Beavers gave them a 3-2 lead early. Loras continued to push back on Buena Vista, overcoming a three point deficit to take a one point lead at 7-6 after Casper got a four point run going for the Duhawks. Casper's kill was followed by a Taylor Wedemeyer ball handling error and an ace from Alberto. The run concluded the way it began, with a laser of a kill off the hand of Casper. As the set progressed, the score saw itself tied eight more times before the Duhawks put up five quick points on a pair of kills from Casper and Mixan, followed by three straight errors from the Beavers to bring the score to 20-16. Up by three in the final points of the second set, the Duhawks prevailed with Wilgenbusch posting another kill and a Beavers error rounded out the set with a final score of 25-20. 

Set three was the closest and most competitive set of the match, seeing the Duhawks up by two immediately from a pair of attacking errors committed by Buena Vista. The Duhawks followed by doing the same to bring the score even at 2-2 before going on to put three quick points up on two kills from Wilgenbusch and Mixan and an error from Buena Vista's Hannah Smith. The score drew even at 7-7 before the Beavers took a two point lead and holding that lead until the Duhawks saw themselves down 14-12 and went on a three point run. Alberto notched a kill in the run and McAtee posted another ace in the match to bring the score back to a tie at 14-14. The score tied a total of five more times until back-to-back attacking errors from Buena Vista put the Duhawks up by two at 23-21. Casper ended the set with a kill assisted by Krystal Tranel to win the set 25-23 and close out the match with a 3-0 final score in favor of the No. 21 ranked Duhawks. 

McAtee led the Duhawks at the service line with two aces, joined by Alberto, Mixan and Liz Fleckenstein who each recorded one. Defensively McAtee led the Duhawks with 19 digs in the match, averaging 6.33 digs per set. Casper excelled offensively for Loras, throwing down 13 kills while Wilgenbusch added nine and Alberto with six. Alberto led the charge at the net defensively with four blocks while Casper had two and Tranel and Wilgenbusch each with one. 

The Duhawks are back in action on Saturday, Mar. 20 as they host the No. 12 Coe College Kohawks at Lillis Court. The match is slated to begin at 2:00 PM.