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

MADISON, Wis. (Sept. 25, 2021) - The Loras College women's volleyball team (11-3, 1-1 A-R-C) headed east to Madison, Wis. on Saturday to compete in a triangular with RV University of Wisconsin - La Crosse (14-3, 2-0 WIAC) and Edgewood College (10-4, 2-0 NACC). The Duhawks took the Eagles from La Crosse to five sets where they emerged victorious three sets to two, but fell to the Eagles from Edgewood in four sets to split the day. 

In the first match of the afternoon, the Duhawks squared off against the Eagles from UW - La Crosse and got off to a hot start, scoring seven straight with only two of the seven points coming from La Crosse errors. While the Eagles tried to get back in the game, the Duhawks offense proved to be too much, going up by eight after American Rivers Conference (A-R-C) Athlete of the Week Lyndsi Wilgenbusch floored a pair of kills with the three point run rounded out by a La Crosse error. The Duhawks continued to put the pedal to the floor later in the set, going up by their largest lead of the game at 20-7 after scoring seven straight as the Eagles were plagued with five straight errors followed by a Sara Hoskins service ace and a kill from Liz Fleckenstein. The set closed out on a service ace from Moira Mixan to take a 25-16 win. 

Set two saw La Crosse put up three straight from the jump, forcing the Duhawks to fight back into the game, coming within one of the Eagles at 11-10 on three straight kills from Cat Gleason, Mixan and Wilgenbusch. La Crosse pulled away again with a five point lead but another three point run highlighted by two Mixan service aces saw the Duhawks back within two but the Eagles held on to take the second set 25-19. 

La Crosse struck first in the third set and went ahead by two early but the Duhawks came right back and put four straight up on the board on a pair of kills from Gleason and Wilgenbusch with Gleason also posting an ace of her own to bring the score to 5-3 in favor of the Duhawks. The two sides kept the game close with the score tying three times before the Duhawks went on a 10-2 scoring tear to take a comfortable lead at 16-9 with Fleckenstein accounting for four of the points. Much like the first set, Loras didn't look back and hammered forward, with the set ending on a Fleckenstein kill followed by a La Crosse attacking error to give the Duhawks the set victory at 25-14. 

Both sides traded blows early in the fourth set of the match, seeing the score tie four times before La Crosse went up by three at 11-8. The three point lead was short live, though, as Fleckenstein floored another kill and a La Crosse error brought the Duhawks back within one. The score stayed close, though La Crosse held the lead until the Duhawks offense shined with three straight points on a Wilgenbusch kill, Gleason ace and another kill from Olivia Smith to tie the game at 14-14. The Eagles again went ahead and held the lead through the end of the set to force the match into a winner-takes-all fifth set. 

The Duhawks took control of the fifth set early, starting things off on a Fleckenstein kill that was followed by back-to-back La Crosse errors to go up 3-0 from the beginning. Loras held the lead through the entire set, going up by their largest margin of six points at 11-5 after scoring four straight. La Crosse stayed in the game, though, keeping the score close near the end and staying within two. With the Duhawks on match point, La Crosse scored two straight to bring the score to 14-13 before Wilgenbusch put an end to the match on a huge kill to win 15-13. 

Loras was excellent at the service line in the match, notching eight service aces with three coming from Mixan, two from Gleason, and one apiece from Fleckenstein, Hoskins and Sam Stoffregen. Fleckenstein continued to impress offensively with a match-leading, career-best 18 kills while Wilgenbusch followed with 16 of her own. Hoskins led the match with 44 assists in the match and libero Krystal Tranel posted 23 digs while Mixan had 18 of her own and Hoskins with 17. 

The second match of the day saw the Duhawks take on a different Eagles team, this time against the host school Edgewood College. Fleckenstein put the first two points on the board for the Duhawks, getting things going with a kill that brought her to the service line where she posted an ace on Mackenzie Doherty to take a two point advantage early. The two teams traded blows early but the Duhawks went on a major run, scoring eight straight on four Edgewood errors, three kills from Mixan, Wilgenbusch and Smith and a Mixan service ace to go up 12-3. Loras held the lead through the majority of the set but the Eagles slowly began to creep back into the game, tying the set at 23-23. The score went on to tie two more times before the set required extra points to decide the winner, which pointed to Edgewood with a final score of 27-25. 

Three straight Edgewood service errors got the second set started in favor of the Duhawks, followed by a Hoskins service ace and a kill from Gleason before another Eagles error gave the Duhawks a six point advantage immediately. Loras held the lead but the Eagles came within one at 14-13 before the Duhawks pulled away again on a pair of kills from Fleckenstein and Wilgenbusch that was followed up by another Fleckenstein ace and an Edgewood attacking error to widen the lead again at 18-13. Edgewood kept the score close through the end of the set but two straight kills from Smith and Fleckenstein gave the Duhawks their first set win of the match at 25-22. 

The Duhawks outscored Edgewood 4-1 to start out the third set, but Edgewood continued to push back and eventually took  the lead at 7-5. Two straight errors from Edgewood's Raegan Doherty gave the Duhawks two free points to tie the score again at 8-8. The Eagles pulled away once more in the middle of the set and continued to hold the lead before taking the third set 25-17 to go into the fourth set with a 2-1 advantage. 

In a must-win fourth set, the Duhawks fell behind early but came back to tie the game at 6-6 on a Doherty service error and a Fleckenstein kill. The Duhawks' grit was on display in the middle of the set, going on to tie the score five times before adding five straight to their side on two Wilgenbusch kills and an Eagles attacking error that was followed by another kill for Wilgenbusch and Hoskins. Loras continued to hold the lead but Edgewood stayed right under the Duhawks' nose, staying within one before coming back as the Duhawks were on set point to win with a final score of 26-24 to take the match 3-1. 

Fleckenstein again led the Duhawks' offense with 14 kills in the match while Wilgenbusch had nine and Mixan with eight. Fleckenstein's two service aces in the match come as a career-first for the senior pin who now has three on the year. Mixan also posted two in the match, bringing her total on the weekend to five and her career total to 126, tying her for fifth all-time in career service aces. Smith held down the net defensively for the Duhawks with three total blocks on the night while Gleason and Mixan added two apiece. Tranel helped strengthen the defense with 23 digs on the night while Fleckenstein added 16 and Hoskins with 13. 

The Duhawks are back in action on Wednesday, Sept. 29 as they welcome the Cornell College Rams to Lillis Court. The match is scheduled to begin at 7:00 PM inside the Athletic and Wellness Center.