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

Feb. 26, 2022 - The No. 15/13 Loras College men's volleyball team (15-1, 4-0 CCIW) extended their win streak to six matches after earning a pair of straight-set victories over the Millikin University Big Blue (0-12, 0-3 CCIW) in a College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) bout before taking down the University of Health Sciences and Pharmacy Eutectics (2-13, 1-10 Heart). 

The Duhawks dominated the Big Blue in the first match of the game from start to finish, taking an immediate 4-0 lead on a trio of kills from Dorian Fiorenza, Tucker Ziegenhorn and Patrick Mahoney with a Millikin error rounding out the run. Loras continued to pounce on the Big Blue in the middle of the set, taking a commanding 18-6 lead after outscoring Millikin 9-2. Both sides traded scoring in the latter half of the set but back-to-back Millikin errors closed out the set in favor of the Duhawks with a set score of 25-11. 

The second set saw the Duhawks put eight straight points on the board with Jake Filotto flooring a pair of kills in the run with Mahoney adding one of his own while David Beach tallied two service aces in the run. In the middle of the set, the Duhawks tacked on another four points in a row as Zachary Heinstein recorded a pair of kills in the run to widen the Duhawks' lead at 13-2. Loras was too much for Millikin to handle at the end of the set as the Duhawks continued to take advantage of the Big Blue's offensive woes, finishing the set on a 6-2 run saw saw four of the six points come off of Millikin errors as the Duhawks took set two by another 25-11 margin. 

Clayton Nix put the Duhawks on the board first in the third set as the Big Blue stayed within one through the early stages of the game before Loras took off on a four-point run that was started by Nix and closed out by Kevin Kessel who floored back-to-back aces in the run to bring the score to 11-6. The Duhawks jumped ahead by 11 after scoring another six straight on a Keegan Godwin ace, a Mahoney kill and four Millikin errors. Kessel slammed the door shut on the match with a kill that brought him to the service line to put an end to the match with another service ace, winning the set 25-13 and securing the 3-0 match win. 

The Duhawks dominated offensively, recording a .673 hitting percentage while the Big Blue struggled to get anything going, hitting -.033. Heinstein led the Duhawks' offensive efforts with six kills in the match while Mahoney and Nix each added five apiece. Loras had all of the match's nine service aces with Kessel putting down three, followed by Beach with two. Four Duhawks in Matt Jordan, Godwin, Ryan Floyd and Joe Horn each added a service as of their own. Mahoney locked down the defense with five blocks in the match while Michael Dziewior and Nix added two apiece as Kessel put up eight digs at libero. 

In the second match of the night the Duhawks squared up against the Eutectics from UHSP and as was the story in the match prior, the Duhawks commanded the entire match. UHSP scored first on a Loras error but the lead was immediately taken back after the Duhawks scored six in a row on two kills from Mahoney, a pair of service aces from Filotto and a Ziegenhorn kill. In the middle of the set, the Duhawks widened their lead to 19-7, outscoring the Eutectics 7-1 as Horn and Mahoney floored a pair of kills each in the run. Up by 14 on set point, Ziegenhorn put an end to the onslaught with a kill to take set one 25-10. 

UHSP took an early 6-5 lead in the second set as the Duhawks' offense struggled to get going, but the lead was short-lived as Dziewior ignited a four-point scoring run that saw Henstein floor an ace and Beach add a kill in the run to bring the score to 9-6. Loras battled on and gained a nine-point edge at 20-11 as the Eutectics continued to struggle offensively, giving the Duhawks four points on errors in an 8-1 scoring run late in the set. The Eutectics attempted a comeback, pulling within seven on set point but another error gave the Duhawks the 25-17 set victory. 

As was the case in the set prior, the score went back-and-forth early in the third set, tying five times before the Duhawks took a two-point lead after scoring three in a row on a Corey Mayotte kill and two Eutectics errors to bring the score to 8-6. The Duhawks went on a 7-2 scoring run in the middle of the set with Ziegenhorn leading the run with three kills while Nix added two. Loras continued to press the Eutectics in the final moments of the match, scoring back-to-back points on a Mayotte kill before Godwin sealed the deal on the Duhawks' second straight-set victory of the day with a 25-16 set win. 

The Duhawks hit .419 against the Eutectics, tallying 39 kills in the match led by Mahoney and Ziegenhorn who had nine apiece. Mahoney led the match in service aces, flooring three of the Duhawks' seven in the match while Filotto added two of his own. Kessel and Mahoney continued to lead the Duhawks' defensive efforts with Kessel putting up eight digs while Mahoney led the match with a trio of blocks at the net. 

The Duhawks are back in action in Saturday, Mar. 5 as they travel to Naperville, Ill. to take on the No. 4 North Central College Cardinals in a CCIW heavyweight tilt. The match is scheduled to begin at 3:00 PM.