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

PELLA, Iowa (Mar. 6, 2021) - The No. 16 Loras College women's volleyball team (4-1, 4-1 A-R-C) was on the road Saturday night as they took on the Central College Dutch (2-3, 2-3 A-R-C) in an American Rivers Conference (A-R-C) showdown at P.H. Kuyper Gymnasium. The Dutch received votes in this week's American Volleyball Coaches' Association (AVCA) poll, where the Duhawks also saw their name at No. 16 for their first ever AVCA national ranking. Central would defeat the Duhawks (25-18, 16-25, 18-25, 24-26) in a highly contended conference matchup.

The Duhawks came at the Dutch hard right out of the game, putting two straight points on the board on two back-to-back errors from the Dutch. A kill from Central's Kayleigh Fite gave Central their first point of the set that was immediately followed up by a service error from Gracie Daniels to give Moira Mixan the serve, where she put down an ace on Daniels to give the Duhawks the 4-1 lead. As the two teams chipped away at the score, the set went to a tie at 6-6 but Loras scored three straight with a pair of Dutch errors and a kill from Mixan to give the Duhawks the lead once more. After the score tied again at 11-11, the Duhawks didn't look back and owned the rest of the set, outscoring Central 6-1 highlighted by Mixan who posted a kill and an ace, joined by Lyndsi Wilgenbusch and Jackie Alberto who added a kill each in the run. Loras kept the attack strong throughout the remainder of the set with Jade Casper adding a pair of kills to the board while Sara Hoskins recorded a service ace on Fite. An error from the Dutch put an end to the set with a 25-18 score in favor of the Duhawks. 

Central struck first in the second set but was immediately followed by two straight kills from the hands of Alberto and Mixan to give the Duhawks the lead. The set tied twice in the beginning portion of the set before Central pulled away a lead that was short lived as the Duhawks continued to grind away at the Dutch with Alberto throwing down a kill to tie the set back at 11-11. Central reclaimed the lead again with a trio of kills from Krissa Larson, Hallie Uhlig and Ally Focht and held the lead through the remainder of the set to win 25-16. 

With the set scores tied at 1-1, Loras entered the third set looking to take the lead in the match again. Central's Daniels recorded the first point of the set for the Dutch that was immediately answered by Mixan. The Dutch scored three straight soon after but was answered with a service error from Fite and a kill from Hoskins assisted by Talia McAtee to bring the Duhawks back within one. Six straight points went to the opposition, seeing the Dutch take a seven point lead near the middle of the set, but the Duhawks pushed back with two kills from Casper and Liz Fleckenstein to spark up the offense. A number of errors committed by Central and a kill from Alberto brough the Duhawks back within three points with the score at 15-12. Loras outscored Central 4-1 with Casper and Alberto leading the charge, Casper recording a kill in the run and Alberto putting an ace down on Central's Fite. The Duhawks' hard fight came to an end on a kill from Larson, whose kill shut the door on the set with the Dutch taking a 25-18 set victory to go ahead 2-1 entering the fourth set. 

In the closest set of the match, the Duhawks rallied hard to try and force the set to a fifth set to decide a winner. Daniels notched a kill for the Dutch for the first point of the set, but Wilgenbusch tied the score back with a kill assisted by Hoskins. The score went on to tie four more times as the teams traded blows before the Duhawks pulled away by three on a Dutch service error that put Sam Stoffregen at the service line, resulting in a kill from Mixan that was immediately followed by another Dutch error. Central scored two back to come back wihtin one, but Mixan marched the Duhawks on with two straight kills that were followed by a Daniels attacking error and a Wilgenbusch kill to give Loras a five point lead. After the Dutch claimed a point back, Wilgenbusch gave Mixan the serve that resulted in two straight attacking errors from Daniels to widen the lead to 15-8. As the set went on, Central went on two scoring runs putting up seven quick points and taking the lead at 19-18, but an attacking error tied the set back at 19-19. With the set tied at 21-21, back-to-back attacking errors from Fite put the Duhawks up by two going into the final points of the set as Loras pushed to take the match into five sets. The Dutch stuck out the set victory forcing the game into extra points, winning 26-24 and taking the match 3-1. 

Mixan led the attack for the Duhawks with 11 kills on the night, while Casper and Wilgenbusch each added nine a piece. Loras notched five service aces on the night with three coming from the hand of Mixan and one each coming from Alberto and Hoskins. Wilgenbusch continued her impressive season for Loras with a career-high four blocks on the night, joined by Alberto and Fleckenstein who each put up two. Krystal Tranel led the Duhawks with 29 digs with Mixan accounting for 16 and Hoskins with 12. 

The Duhawks are back in action on Wednesday, Mar. 10 as they host No. 11 Cornell College at Lillis Court. The match is slated to begin at 6:00 PM.