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

DECATUR, Ill. (Mar. 23, 2022) - After a three-match weekend at home inside the Lillis Athletic and Wellness Center, the No. 15/15 Loras College men's volleyball team (19-4, 8-2 CCIW) hit the road for their first of three away matches this week, squaring off against the Big Blue from Millikin University (0-18, 0-8 CCIW). The Duhawks took the match in straight sets to down the Big Blue for the second time this season without giving up a set in either match.

The match opened with both sides trading scoring before the Duhawks took off to take a five point lead after scoring five straight as Patrick Mahoney floored a pair of kills in the run while Tyler Kratochvil and Dorian Fiorenza added one apiece to bring the score to 7-2. In the middle of the set, the Big Blue came back within four after scoring two in a row but the Duhawks' offense sparked as Jake Filotto kicked off another five point run that saw Fiorenza floor a kill while Tucker Ziegenhorn and Michael Dziewior put down a kill each to take the score to 16-7 in the latter parts of the set. A pair of Millikin errors followed by a Dziewior kill and David Beach service ace closed out the set with a final score of 25-14 in favor of Loras. 

With a first set win under their belt, the Duhawks carried the momentum into the second set as Millikin's Cristobal Gonzalez notched an attacking error to put Loras on the board first before Filotto floored a kill and Beach served up another ace at the service line to take a 3-0 lead from the jump. Millikin took advantage of three straight Loras errors soon thereafter to tie the game up at four a side before the Duhawks outscored the Big Blue 7-3 in the middle of the set to go ahead by four at 13-9. Millikin continued to fight through the middle of the set, pulling back within two at 13-11 but a 6-2 run that feature a trio of kills of the hand of Mahoney put the Duhawks back in a six point lead at 19-13 before dominating the end of the set on another 6-2 run to earn a second set victory at 25-16. 

As was the story in the set prior, the Duhawks took an early lead in the third set, scoring four straight on three Millikin errors and a kill from Zachary Heinstein. The Big Blue scored four in a row of their own as Jose Gallardo floored a pair of aces but the Duhawks again jumped back in the lead on a Millikin service ace and back-to-back kills from Mahoney. The Duhawks went on their longest run of the night in the middle of the set as they outscored the Big Blue 10-1 as Mahoney continued to lead the offensive attack with a kill and a two aces  in the run, joined by Kratochvil, Heinstein and Clayton Nix who had a kill each to bring the score to a dominant 21-9. The Big Blue picked up the pace in the final moments of the half but the match came to a close on a Millikin attacking error to give the Duhawks a 25-16 third set victory and take the match in straight sets. 

Mahoney led the Duhawks' offense with nine kills in the match while Dziewior had six and Kratochvil with five. At the service line, the Duhawks floored seven aces in the match with Mahoney and Beach tallying two apiece while Fiorenza, Nix and Ryan Floyd added one each. Defensively, Dziewior held down the net with four blocks in the match, joined by Ziegenhorn who had three while libero Cameron Menini put up seven digs. 

The Duhawks are back in action on Saturday, Mar. 26 as they travel to Milwaukee, Wis. to take on the St. Norbert College Green Knights and the Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE) Raiders in a pair of non-conference matches. First serve against St. Norbert is scheduled for 3:00 PM on the campus of MSOE.