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

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. (Mar. 31, 2021) - In their final match on the road in the 2021 regular season, the Loras College men's volleyball team (8-5, 7-4 CCIW) took on the Illinois Wesleyan University Titans in a College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin matchup. The Duhawks' victory completed the season sweep over the Titans with junior Patrick Mahoney paving the path to the win with an impressive outing offensively, notching a team-leading, career-high four service aces and nine kills, hitting .571 on the night. 

The first set got started in favor of the Duhawks as an Illinois Wesleyan attacking error put one on the board for Loras. After a Titans kill, the Duhawks responded by putting three straight on the board with Tucker Ziegenhorn posting a pair of kills and Dorian Fiorenza put down an ace at the service line to bring the score to 4-1. The two teams traded points until a service error from the Titans' KJ Johnson added another point to the Duhawks' lead. Three more points followed for Loras on a kill from Fiorenza, another error from Illinois Wesleyan's Johnson and a service ace for Jake Filotto on Adam Blackmore that forced a Titans' timeout and padded the Duhawks' lead at 10-4. Illinois Wesleyan clawed back coming back within two of Loras at 13-11 but a four point run ensued, with Fiorenza putting down two kills while Ziegenhorn had one with the run rounding out on an error from Illinois Wesleyan. The set ended on another four point run with Mahoney placing two perfect serves down for aces, ending the set on a service ace with a final score of 25-15. 

Back-to-back points in favor of the Duhawks kicked off the second set with the first coming off a bad serve from Illinois Wesleyan's Bradley Benson that was followed by a service ace from Fiorenza. A Michael Eastman kill put the Titans on the board but Loras took two more points to go ahead again at 4-1. After two straight points for the Titans followed, a five point barrage followed, with a service error from Alec Mucha getting things started for the Duhawks' offense. Mahoney had two kills in the run with the another point coming from an attacking error from Eastman that forced an Illinois Wesleyan timeout. After the timeout Mahoney again put down a kill to give the Duhawks a six point lead at 9-3. Loras held the lead through the entirety of the set with the lead growing comfortable at the end of the set as three straight kills from Mahoney, Fiorenza and Joe Horn forced the Titans to utilized their second timeout of the set. Fiorenza continued play after the timeout by putting down a kill that was followed by a Johnson attacking error for Illinois Wesleyan. A service ace from Mahoney rounded out the run for his third of the night. The set ended on three straight points for the Duhawks with back-to-back kills coming from Fiorenza and, as was the story in the first set, the second set closed on a service ace, this time off the service of Horn to give the Duhawks another 25-15 victory. 

The Titans took their first lead of the match in the third set as they followed up a set-opening kill from Tyler Kratochvil with two straight on an Eastman kill and a Duhawks' error. Illinois Wesleyan kept the lead through the beginning of the set but a three point run from Loras gave the Duhawks the lead at 10-9. The score found itself tied at 10-10 on a Loras error but a kill from Michael Dziewior and an attacking error from Illinois Wesleyan's Mucha gave Loras a two point lead. The Duhawks didn't turn back from that point, keeping the lead through the remainder of the set, closing out the third set by scoring six straight points that started on a service error from the Titans' Benson. Back-to-back kills from Filloto, followed by a kill from Kratochvil, an ace from Horn and another kill from Kratochvil slammed the door shut on the set on a 25-15 set win to see the Duhawks claim the 3-0 match victory. 

Mahoney and Fiorenza led the Duhawks with nine kills apiece while Mahoney excelled at the service line with a career-high four service aces on the night. Fiorenza and Horn each added two while Filotto posted one. Defensively, Horn and Mahoney each had two blocks while Andres Martinez had one. Libero Ryne Anders fielded nine digs for the Duhawks with Filotto following with six.

The Duhawks close out their 2021 campaign at home on Saturday, Apr. 3 as they host the No. 10 North Central College Cardinals at Lillis Court. The match is slated to begin at 3:00 PM.