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

Jan. 25, 2022 - Charged from a season-opening sweep over the Concordia University Wisconsin Falcons last week, the Loras College men's volleyball team (2-0, 0-0 CCIW) played host to the reigning National Runners-Up in the No. 5 Benedictine University Eagles (0-1, 0-0 NACC) on Tuesday night for their first home match of the 2022 season. The Duhawks cruised past the Eagles in straight sets led offensively by junior hitter Dorian Fiorenza who tallied a match-leading 13 kills. 

The first set started with a kill and a service ace for the Eagles but Fiorenza notched his first kill of the night to spoil early run. The Duhawks stayed within two points of the fifth-ranked Eagles until Patrick Mahoney floored a kill followed by a Benedictine error to tie the score at 8-8. In the middle of the set, the Eagles jumped ahead by two after scoring three straight but again the Duhawks clawed back with a Michael Dziewior kill that brought College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin Player of the Week Joe Horn to the service line who placed a perfect serve on the seam for an ace to bring the score to 12 apiece. The two sides continued to battle through the end of the set until the Duhawks pulled away toward the end of the set, outscoring the Eagles 7-4 to end the set with a 25-21 victory.

The Duhawks jumped on the board first in the second set on a block by Mahoney and held the lead until the Eagles scored four straight to go up by two at 9-7. Down by four at 15-11 in the middle of the set, a pair of kills off the hand of Fiorenza brought the Duhawks back within two at 15-13 but the Eagles continued to press on and hold the lead, going up by three at 19-16. Errors plagued the Eagles at the end of the second ste, giving Loras five free points in a row on attacking errors, seeing the Duhawks end the set on a nine point run with eight of the nine points coming from Benedictine errors with a final set score of 25-19. 

After the Eagles struck first in the third set, back-to-back kills from Jake Filotto and Fiorenza took the Duhawks into the lead at 2-1 early. Benedictine followed by tallying two straight before Loras did the same on a Logan Fuglestad service error and another Fiorenza kill to give the Duhawks a 4-3 lead. As had been the story early on in each set of the match, the two sides stayed close before a pair of Benedictine errors and Fiorenza kill saw the Duhawks score three in a row to jump ahead by foour at 12-8. Holding on to the lead through the latter part of the set, the Duhawks widened their lead by six as Tucker Ziegenhorn added a kill that was followed by a Nathan Klimisch hitting error to bring the score to 18-12. The Duhawks dominated the game at the end of the set, outscoring the Eagles 7-1 to finish the match with a final set score of 25-17, seeing the Duhawks hand the 2021 National Runners-Up a season-opening loss. 

The Duhawks offense excelled, hitting .250 percent in the match while hitting an impressive .364 percent in the third set. Fiorenza led Loras's offensive efforts with 13 kills on the night while Dziewior and Ziegenhorn added six each. At the service line, Mahoney, Horn and Dziewior each notched an ace while all three locked down the defense with Mahoney racking up three total blocks, joined by Horn and Dziewior with one apiece. Horn led the match in assists with 28 and put up 11 digs, joined by libero Kevin Kessel who also recorded 11 digs in the match. 

Loras looks to keep their win streak alive as they host the Loras Invite. The two-day tournament is set to kick off on Saturday, Feb. 5 at 10:00 AM as the Duhawks face the Marian University Sabres. A reminder that per campus safety guidelines, masks are required to be worn by all spectators.