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

Sept. 17, 2021 - Coming off of an electric three set sweep against the University of Dubuque on Wednesday to kick-off American Rivers Conference (A-R-C) play, the Loras College women's volleyball team (9-1, 1-0 A-R-C) racked up their sixth straight win of the season with a 3-1 win over Westminster College (2-6, 0-1 SLIAC) and another over College of St. Scholastica (0-2, 0-0 MIAC). 

The first match of the night saw the Duhawks play host to the Blue Jays from Westminster College. The Duhawks put the pedal to the floor immediately in the first set, opening play by going on a five point scoring run that was highlighted by two kills from senior pin Liz Fleckenstein with Moira Mixan adding one while a pair of Westminster errors rounded out the run. The two teams scored back and forth thereafter, but it didn't last long as Loras again put up five straight to pull away by six at 14-8. The Duhawks dominated the final half of the set, outscoring the Blue Jays by a massive 11-2 margin with the set ending on a huge kill from Lyndsi Wilgenbusch. 

Fleckenstein put Loras on the board first again in the second set, sparking a three point run to go ahead by three early. Through the middle of the set, Westminster kept things too close for comfort, scoring the set three times before taking a two point lead at 15-13. Ahead by two, an Eryka Wynonyi service error put the Duhawks back in charge as Fleckstein continued to shine offensive, putting three straight kills down, capped off by a Westminster attacking error to score five straight and take the lead once more at 18-15. Westminster tried to make a comeback late, but again the Duhawks' offense outlasted their efforts as Sam Stoffregen notched two aces in a four point run with the set closing on a kill from freshman middle Cat Gleason to give Loras a 2-0 advantage going into the third. 

Set three saw the highest level of competition the Duhawks faced in the night, as the two teams traded blows early, tying the score a total of nine times before Westminster took a two point lead a 21-18. Far from out of the game, a pair of kills from Fleckenstein and Gleason brought the Duhawks within one with the score tying yet again at 21-21 on a Blue Jays attacking error. Ultimately, Westminster prevailed to take the lone set of the night that the Duhawks fell. 

The fourth set started on a Fleckenstein error to put Westminster on the board first, but she came right back a play later to tie the game up at 1-1 with another kill on the night, followed by another Gleason kill to go up 2-1. After the Blue Jays tied the game a point later, a four point run ensued on kills from Wilgenbusch and Mixan, as well as a service ace from the hand of Gleason, rounded out by a Haley Menke attacking error to put the Duhawks up by four at 6-2. Westminster tallied two more after the run but it only sparked more scoring in favor of Loras as they put up seven straight, highlighted by two services aces from Mixan to go ahead 13-4. The Duhawks continued to press forward with aggressive offense, ending the match by scoring five straight to take the fourth set 25-14 and win the match 3-1. 

The Duhawks excelled offensively, hitting .261 percent on the night opposed to Westminster's .061 hitting percentage. Fleckenstein had a career-best performance with 17 kills to her name, joined by Wilgenbusch with 15 and Mixan with ten. At the service line it was Stoffregen who punched the ticket to victory, who led the match with three aces while Mixan and Gleason added two apiece and Talia McAtee had one. Setter Sara Hoskins had her second-best performance of the season with 41 assists on the night and Tranel shined in the libero spot with a match-leading 21 digs while Mixan posted 20. 

The second match of the night saw the Duhawks face the College of St. Scholastica Saints, who opened the Loras Invite with a loss against the Grinnell College Pioneers. St. Scholastica took the lead early in the first set, but had no larger of a lead than three points. Down by two, Wilgenbusch put down a kill and a bad set by Katie Brostrom tied the set back up at 6-6. As was the case in the third set of the match prior, the game tied often before the Loras offense locked in and took control of the game. With the score at a stand-still at 12-12, Wilgenbusch tallied two kills to go ahead by one. The score tied again at 13-13 on a Loras service error but the Saints were plagued by errors as the Duhawks put up seven straight with four of the points coming from St. Scholastica errors. Loras continued to drive forward on the Saints, outscoring them 5-3 in the closing points of the set to win 25-17. 

With one set down, Fleckenstein and Mixan opened the second set with back-to-back kills to go up by two, but the Saints responded by adding five points of their own to the board. The Saints held the lead until a kill from Wilgenbusch and a McAtee service ace tied the score at 7-7. As was a familiar feeling all night, the set tied three more times before Loras went on an 8-2 scoring run to take a five point lead at 17-12. St. Scholastica tried to stay in the fight but Hoskins, Fleckenstein and Mixan put down three kills to give the Duhawks a six point lead at 23-17. Gleason closed out the night with a monster of a kill from Gleason to win the match in straight sets. 

Wilgenbusch led the Duhawks offensively with 15 kills in the match while Fleckenstein added ten and Mixan with eight. Tranel had an excellent night at the service line with three aces to her name while Gleason had two and Wilgenbusch had one. Defensively Tranel posted 17 digs and Hoskins had 14, followed by Mixan with 11. 

The Loras Invite continues on Saturday, Sept. 18 as the Duhawks square off against St. Mary's University. The match is scheduled to begin at 10:00 AM at Lillis Court inside the Athletic and Wellness Center.