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

LAKE FOREST, Ill. (Sept. 4, 2021) - The Loras College women's volleyball team (4-1, 0-0 A-R-C) was back in action Saturday afternoon as they closed out their final day of competition in the Forester Invite, hosted by Lake Forest College. The first game of the day saw the Duhawks fall to No. 5 Carthage College (4-0, 0-0 CCIW) but bounced back and came back from a 2-0 deficit to down Marian University (1-3, 0-0 NACC) in five sets to earn their fourth win of the year. 

Loras started the first match of the day in hot fashion, running up a 5-0 lead on the No. 5 ranked Carthage College Firebirds and held onto the lead until Carthage tied things up at 8-8. The two non-conference foes stayed neck-and-neck through the middle portion of the set, seeing the score tie four more times before the Firebirds pulled away by three at 18-15. The Duhawks stayed within three points of Carthage through the remainder of the set but ultimately Carthage prevailed to take set one. 

A huge kill from Moira Mixan sparked the Duhawks' offense from the start in set two, followed by a four point run highlighted by Lyndsi Wilgenbusch who had two kills in the stretch and Sara Hoskins who added one to put the Duhawks up 6-3 early. Carthage stayed within reach, however, tying the score three more times before going on a four point tear to go ahead by three at 13-10, but an attacking error from Lena Ajibola spoiled the run and a Wilgenbusch kill brough Loras back within one. Late in the set, down 22-18, the Duhawks dominated their nationally ranked opponent, outscoring them 7-1 with Wilgenbusch throwing down three kills while Cat Gleason had a kill and a service ace and Liz Fleckenstein and Sam Stoffregen had a kill and a service ace, respectively. The massive late-set push secured a 25-23 victory for the Duhawks to enter the third set tied at 1-1. 

A Carthage attacking error put Loras on the board first in the third set, but the Firebirds responded by scoring five of their own to go up 5-1. Owning a seven point lead at 11-4, the Duhawks came back within reach on a pair of errors from Carthage and kills from Mixan and Fleckenstein. Despite the effort, the Firebirds stayed ahead the rest of the set to go ahead 2-1 going into the fourth set. 

The two teams traded blows early in the fourth set, seeing the Duhawks overcome a three point deficit on a kill from Olivia Smith, followed by a service ace from Talia McAtee and an attacking error from Carthage's Molly Skoda to tie the game up at 6-6 early. Carthage responded to the tie score with a nine point run to take the lead back and hold on the remainder of the set to secure a fourth set win and win the match 3-1. 

Fleckenstein and Wilgenbusch led the Duhawks offensively, each posting 13 kills while . McAtee, Stoffregen and Gleason each notched an ace apiece to round out the Duhawks' offense. Defenseively, Wilgenbusch, Smith and Gleason each tallied two blocks while Krystal Tranel led the team with 14 digs, followed by Mixan who had 12 of her own and Hoskins who had eight. 

In the final game of the weekend, the Duhawks took on the Sabres from Marian University and ended the tournament on an extreme high note. 

Set one saw the Sabres take an early jump, posting back to back points before the Duhawks tied the game back up at 2-2 on a kill from James Keefe and an error from Caelan Tourdot. Marian took off from then, however, and led by 11 at one point at 14-3, but the Duhawks made their way back late in the set. Down by 13 at 21-8, the Duhawks went on a huge scoring stretch, outscoring the Sabres 12-2 to come within four at 23-19 but Marian outlasted the late set push and took set one by a narrow 25-21 score.

Fleckenstein put Loras on the board first in the second set, where the two teams traded scoring for the three points, tying the game up at 2-2 before the Duhawks took a five point lead as the Sabres were riddled with errors in a five point stretch. Loras continued to hold the lead but Marian came back to take the lead once more at 13-12 after putting up three straight. Mixan spoiled the run with a kill of her own to spark a comeback for the Duhawks, as they entered the late portion of the set with the lead at 18-16 on a pair of kills from Wilgenusch and Fleckenstein followed by a Marian error. The two teams continued to keep the score close in the final points of the set but three straight at the end of the set gave Marian the second set win at 26-24. 

Marian found the scoreboard first in set number three and held the lead through the middle part of the sent until the Duhawks put up seven straight in a run that comprised of kills from Mixan and Wilgenbusch, an ace from Gleason and four errors from Marian to put Loras up two at 13-11. The Duhawks put the pressure on from there on out, running their lead up to ten points after yet another huge six point run late in the set on kills from Gleason, Fleckenstein, Hoskins and a service ace from Tranel. A bad set from Marian's Anna Tapia closed out the set to give the Duhawks their first set victory of the match to head into the fourth set with a score of 2-1. 

The early part of the fourth set saw the two teams keep the score close, with the score tying at 4-4 on back-to-back kills from Mixan and Wilgenbusch. Marian took the lead from there but the Duhawks fought back by outscoring the Sabres 6-1 in the middle portion of the set to take the lead once again at 12-11. The score went on to tie twice more before two Wilgenbusch kills and a Mixan service ace sent the Duhawks out front again at 17-14. Loras held the lead through the remainder of the set and owned the last four points of the sent, putting down three straight kills and capping off the set with a Stoffregen ace to give the Duhawks a 25-20 set win and force the match into a fifth set. 

As was the story earlier in the week against UW-Platteville, the fifth set was all Loras. After the score found itself tied at 3-3, Amelia Gutierrez got the Duhawks' offense on a four point roll to go ahead 7-3. Marian scored two back but that was the closest they came to the Duhawks again, as Loras ran the score up late, outlasting the Sabres on a three-point run to end the set with a 15-9 final score to complete an incredible comeback and give the Duhawks their fourth win of the season. 

Wilgenbusch topped her previous career-best 18 kills by posting 21 against Marian, followed by Fleckenstein who notched a career-best 15 kills in the match and Mixan added 11 of her own. The Duhawks were phenomenal at the service line, with Mixan leading the charge with five aces in the match while Tranel had two and Hoskins, Stoffregen and Gleason each added one apiece to total ten in the entire match. Hoskins also put work in defensively, racking up a career-high five total blocks while Gleason had four and Wilgenbusch tallied three. Tranel and Hoskins locked down the defense in digs, also, with Tranel posting 20 of her own and Hoskins with 19. 

The Duhawks are set to take on Grinnell College and Augustana College in the Grinnell Triangular in Grinnell, Iowa on Sept. 10. The first match of the night against Grinnell is due to start at 4:00 PM, followed by a 6:00 PM matchup against Augustana.