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

ROCK ISLAND, Ill. (Feb. 22, 2022) - After earning their first Top-15 ranking in program history by the American Volleyball Coaches' Association (AVCA), the Loras College men's volleyball team (12-1, 3-0 CCIW) made the trip to Rock Island, Ill. to take on the Vikings from Augustana College. The Duhawks picked up their third College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) victory in a week's span with a straight-set victory over the Vikings to collect their 12th win of the season. 

Loras got off to a hot start from the get-go in the first set, putting up four straight on the board on a pair of Augie errors and kills from David Beach and Dorian Fiorenza. The Duhawks widened their lead to sevne points in the middle of the set at 11-4 as they outscored the Vikings 4-1, seeing CCIW Player of the Week Joe Horn floor an ace at the service line and Tucker Ziegenhorn post a kill in the run. Later in the set, Fiorenza started a four-point run with another kill that saw freshman Corey Mayotte tab an ace in the run to bring the score to 19-8. Augustana came back within eight at the end of the set after scoring four in a row but back-to-back kills from Andres Martinez took the Duhawks back up by 10 with the set finally coming to an end at 25-16 on an attacking error from Augustana's Aiden Bond. 

Augustana took a lead early in the second set, holding a 3-1 lead before Fiorenza floored a kill that put Patrick Mahoney at the service line who put down an ace that was followed by another Fiorenza kill as the Duhawks scored three straight to take the lead at 4-3. The Vikings gained another two-point lead in the middle of the set, taking advantage of Loras attacking errors but Mahoney got a five-point run going with a kill that was followed by a pair of Augustana errors and kills from Fiorenza and Martinez to put the Duhawks back in the lead at 17-14. Holding a five-point lead late in the set at 23-18, Augustana made a last ditch effort to come back, outscoring the Duhawks 5-1 before Mahoney shut the door on the set, giving the Duhawks a 25-23 set victory. 

The third set got underway with the score tying four times before the Duhawks took control of the game, scoring five straight on kills from Mahoney and Fiorenza and a pair of errors from Augustana to put the Duhawks ahead by five at 9-4. Both sides traded scoring through the middle of the set, but the Duhawks continued to hold a comfortable five-point lead before Augustana came back within three at 17-14 after going on a 5-2 scoring run. Jake Filotto put an end to the Vikings' pressure with a kill of his own to take him to the service line where he followed his kill with an ace to gain a five-point lead back at 19-14. Loras widened their lead to seven after tallying three in a row on back-to-back errors and a Fiorenza kill before the set ended on a service error from Augie's Matthew Degnan ended the set 25-19 in favor of Loras to secure the three set sweep. 

The Duhawks tallied 34 kills in the match, led by Fiorenza who had 10 while Martinez added nine, followed by Mahoney who had six as the team collectively hit .217 percent in the match. At the service line, Mahoney and Horn floored two aces each while Filotto and Mayotte had one apiece. Mahoney held down the Duhawks' defense at the net with three blocks while Martinez and Horn joined with two each while libero Cameron Menini put up eight digs. 

Loras returns to the Lillis Athletic and Wellness Center on Friday, Feb. 25 as they welcome the Rockford College Regents in a non-conference bout. The match is set to begin at 7:00 PM.