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

Mar. 20, 2022 - Playing their third match in as many days, the RV/No. 15 Loras College men's volleyball team (18-4, 7-2 CCIW) played host to the Vikings from North Park University (11-10, 3-6 CCIW) in their second College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin matchup of the weekend. The Duhawks downed the Vikings in four sets with a solid offensive showing by junior hitter Dorian Fiorenza, who led the match with 16 kills and four aces at the service line. 

Both teams took turns scoring in the first set of the match but the Duhawks pulled away by three at 9-6 on back-to-back kills from Fiorenza and Michael Dziewior. The Vikings came right back at the Duhawks with a trio of kills of their own to tie the game back up, seeing the score tie five more times before the Duhawks went on a 6-1 scoring run that saw Patrick Mahoney floor an ace and a kill in the run while setter Joe Horn and Fiorenza added a kill apiece to bring the score to 22-17. Two straight kills from Fiorenza and Dziewior closed out the game with a final set score of 25-20. 

North Park kicked off the second set with a pair of kills off the hand of Quinn Robinson and held a narrow one-point lead through the middle of the set as they fought off the Duhawks' attack. The Duhawks came within one eight times in the set before North Park took a six point lead in the end of the game, taking advantage of the Loras offense's struggles. At the Vikings' match point, the Duhawks attempted a comeback as Dziewior tallied a kill that sparked at three point scoring run but the Vikings held on to take the set 25-21. 

As had been the story in the two sets prior, the third set featured both teams trading blows early in the set before the Duhawks put five straight points on the board as Fiorenza floored two kills followed by kills by Corey Mayotte and Tyler Kratochvil to put Loras up 9-4. The Duhawks continued to press forward, holding a three point lead at 15-12 before going on a massive 8-1 scoring run at the end of the set, scoring only two points in the run on North Park errors to bring the score to 23-13. The set ended with a 25-15 final score to put the Duhawks up two sets to one going into the fourth. 

The Vikings gained an early lead in the fourth set, going ahead by two at 6-4 but their offensive struggles gave the Duhawks two straight to tie the score back up at 6-6. Both sides scored in the following four plays before Loras took a four point lead at 13-9 after outscoring North Park 6-1 on four kills and two North Park errors. The Vikings continued to challenge the Duhawks in the middle of the set, tying the score back at 14-14 but the Duhawks took advantage of their opposition's continued offensive woes, scoring five in a row on four errors and a Horn ace to go ahead 19-14. Noth Park pulled back within one at the end of the set but a Fiorenza kill and a Mahoney service ace brought the match to a close with a final set score of 25-22 in favor of the Duhawks. 

Fiorenza led the charge offensively with 16 kills while Mahoney added 10 and Mayotte with eight. The Duhawks floored a total of 10 aces in the match with Fiorenza accounting for four, followed by Mahoney who had three of his own while Horn, Dziewior and Mayotte had one each. Defensively, Mahoney and Mayotte collected three blocks apiece while Fiorenza added with two of his own while Mayotte also put up 13 digs in the match. 

The Duhawks are back in action on Wednesday, Mar. 23 as they travel to Decatur, Ill. to take on the Big Blue from Millikin University. The match is scheduled for a 7:00 PM start.