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

CHICAGO, Ill. (Mar. 24, 2021) - Led offensively by sophomore outside hitter Dorian Fiorenza, the Loras College men's volleyball team (6-5, 5-4 CCIW) trounced the North Park University Vikings (7-7, 4-6 CCIW) in a College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) matchup on Wednesday night. The Duhawks claimed a four set victory to complete the sweep on the season against the Vikings. 

Andres Martinez got things going for the Duhawks offensively in the first set with a kill assisted by sophomore setter Joe Horn. North Park responded by scoring two of their own but the Duhawks took the lead once more on two straight errors from North Park. The Vikings claimed the lead again and held the lead until a kill from Patrick Mahoney and an error from North Park's Erik Bullard brought the score to a tie at 7-7. The score tied twice more before the Duhawks took a two point lead at 11-9 on a kill from Martinez and a service ace from Horn. Four straight points were added to the scoreboard for the Vikings in response, giving North Park a two point lead at 13-11 but back-to-back kills from Jake Filotto and Dorian Fiorenza, followed by a North Park attacking error gave Loras a lead again. The remainder of the set was held close by both sides, seeing the score tie eight more times before Mahoney put down a kill that was followed by an attacking error from Emmanuel Eugene from North Park to give the Duhawks a 26-24 set victory. 

The Vikings struck first in the second set but Filotto and Fiorenza notched two straight kills for Loras to take a 2-1 lead early. North Park took the lead back shortly after but another Fiorenza kill and North Park error tied the game back at 5-5. As was the story in set one, the score tied a number of times before Loras went on a five point, catapulted forward by Horn, Filotto and Fiorenza who recorded a kill apiece in the run. Loras didn't look back from there, holding a comfortable lead through the set with a six point lead at 20-14 after Horn, Mahoney and Filotto added three straight points to the board for the Duhawks. Loras maintained the lead through the remainder of the set, taking set number two with a 25-19 final score. 

Filotto put down a kill to start the third set of the match that was responded by North Park with a Quinn Robinson kill that was followed up immediately with a service error by the Vikings to give Loras a 2-1 lead. Down a point early, the Duhawks added four straight on a North Park service error and three straight kills at the hands of Fiorenza, who had two in the run, and Ziegenhorn who added one to give the Duhawks a 6-3 lead. Loras pushed forward as the teams traded points in the midway point of the set, taking a six point lead after a Martinez kill and two straight errors from North Park brought the score to 14-8. The Vikings slowly chipped away at the Duhawks with the match on the line at 24-23 to go on a three point run to end the set at 26-24 to force the match into a fourth set. 

After the Vikings scored the first point of the fourth set, the score tied back at 1-1 on a coach sanction to North Park that was followed by the Duhawks adding five straight. In the five point run, Filotto posted two service aces and Fiorenza added a kill to his stats on the night. A Duhawks attacking error gave the Vikings their second point of the set but kills from Martinez and Fiorenza, followed by an attacking error from North Park's Armando Quinones gave Loras a seven point lead at 9-2. As the Vikings attempted to close the wide gap in score, the Duhawks held on to their comfortable lead after a Filotto kill and a Horn service ace took the score to 15-9. Later in the set, the Duhawks put four in a row on the board led by Martinez and Mahoney who added kills while Jacob Bonnett put down a service ace to give the Duhawks a seven point lead again at 21-14. The Duhawks took the fourth set victory and shut the door on the match on a kill from Mahoney to earn the victory on the road. 

Fiorenza had a stellar performance for the Duhawks with a season-high 18 kills on the night, followed by Mahoney who notched 14 kills and an impressive .571 hitting percentage. Martinez rounded out the Duhawks offense with a season-high nine kills. Three Duhawks in Mahoney, Filotto and Horn posted two aces apiece at the service line, while Kevin Kessel and Bonnett each had one. Martinez recorded five blocks on the night while Mahoney amassed four to lock down the Duhawks' defense while libero Ryne Anders had a stellar outing with a season-high 16 digs in the match. Horn rounded out the Duhawks' offensive effor twith a career-high 49 assists in the match, notching 12 more than North Park's two leaders combined.

The Duhawks return to Lillis Court on Saturday, Mar. 27 as they play host to the Augustana College Vikings in a CCIW conference matchup. The match is due to begin at 3:00 PM and fans will be limited to those on the student-athlete pass list.