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

Mar. 17, 2021 - The Loras College men's volleyball (4-5, 3-4 CCIW) team played host to the No. 3 Carthage College Firebirds (12-0, 8-0 CCIW) at Lillis Court Wednesday night for a College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) matchup. The Duhawks were led offensively by Dorian Fiorenza and Tyler Kratochvil, who recorded a career-high seven kills but fell in a tough battle against the perennial powerhouse. 

The first set of the match saw the Firebirds strike first but back to back errors put the Duhawks in the lead at 2-1. Carthage responded by putting five straight on the board with three straight kills from senior Matt Slivinski. The Duhawks chipped away at the Firebirds slowly as the set progressed, fueled by Fiorenza who started a two point run with a kill assisted by Joe Horn. The opposition continued to put pressure on Loras but a Kratochvil kill put the Duhawks back in the set by jump starting a four point run that saw Carthage commit two errors and Kevin Kessel put down an ace on Kyle Cohan but the Firebirds claimed the set one victory with a final score of 25-17. 

Set two started with a Carter Schmidt ace for the CCIW foe followed by two straight Slivinski kills but back-to-back kills from Jake Filotto and Fiorenza brought the Duhawks within one at 3-2. Loras held Carthage to but a two point lead until two straight kills from Kratochvil brought the score even at 7-7. Schmidt added one more for the Firebirds but Patrick Mahoney threw down a kill to tied the score back at 8-8. A Duhawks error gave Carthage the lead once more but Fiorenza put one home to again tie the score at 9-9 before the Firedbirds pulled away by two. Plays later, two straight errors from Carthage tied the set again at 12-12 with the score tying once more in the set at 13-13 before the Firebirds went up by three. Carthage held the lead for the remainder of the set as the Duhawks continued to try to push back but the Firebirds took set two 25-19. 

The Duhawks entered set three looking to take a set against the No. 3 ranked team in the nation and started on a high note going up 4-1 early on a three point run that saw Filotto and Fiorenza notch a kill apiece. Carthage grinded their way back to tied the game at 5-5 but Loras took the lead again at 6-5 on a service error at the hand of Slivinski. The set tied two more times before the Duhawks found themselves down by four at 13-9, but the deficit proved to be short lived as a kill from Fiorenza ignited a five point run that saw Fiorenza record two kills and Mahoney adding one with a pair of errors from Carthage to put the Duhawks up 14-13. The score tied twice more in the set before Carthage took a two point lead on Loras, but the Duhawks held the opposition to no more than the two point lead until an error and a Slivinski kill took the score to 23-19. Horn recorded a kill late in the set to try to spark up the offense but Slivinski closed the door on the set with a kill to take the score to 25-21, ending the match in favor of the Firebirds 3-0. 

Fiorenza had a solid night offensively for Loras with 14 kills on the night, adding a solo block on defense. Kratochvil posted seven kills in 12 attempts to hit .333 in the match, followed by Filotto who had five kills and Mahoney who had three. Mahoney joined Fiorenza defensively putting down a solo block of his own while Kevin Kessel led the match in digs with a career-high nine on the night. 

Loras is back in action on Sunday, Mar. 21 as they travel to take on the Millikin University Big Blue in Decatur, Ill. The match is set to begin at 3:00 PM.