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

Mar. 9, 2022 - Squaring off against their second Top-5 ranked opponent in a seven day span, the RV/No. 13 Loras College men's volleyball team (15-3, 4-2 CCIW) played host to the No. 3/4 Carthage College Firebirds (11-3, 7-0 CCIW) in a College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) matchup Wednesday night. The Duhawks took the first set against the reigning National Champions, but the Firebirds sparked to take the match in four. 

The match kicked off with a huge kill by junior hitter Dorian Fiorenza to put Loras ahead from the jump at 1-0. Both sides traded blows early in the set, but the Duhawks pulled away by two in the middle of the set after going on a 6-3 scoring run to take the lead at 12-10. Carthage stayed right in the game, with neither gaining more than a two-point lead before the Duhawks' offense ignited in the final moments of the set, outscoring the Firebirds 5-1 with Fiorenza and Corey Mayotte flooring kills in the run while Tyler Kratochvil put down an ace from the service line to bring the score to 24-21. The set ended as it began, with a Fiorenza kill that sealed the deal on the game with the set score resting at 25-22. 

Carthage took an early lead in the second set, gaining a four-point edge on the Duhawks as Matt Slivinski, the Firebirds' most dangerous weapon at the service line, floored a pair of aces in a four-point run to go ahead 7-3. Loras responded by putting down back-to-back kills from Mayotte and Fiorenza before a bad set by Carthage's Gene McNulty brought the Duhawks back within one at 7-6. Carthage continued to grind away in the latter part of the set, leading by eight at 21-14 before the Duhawks attemped a late comeback, but the Firebirds held on and fought off the Duhawks' attack to take set number two by a final score of 25-20. 

The Firebirds came out in the third set hot from the start, going ahead 13-4 in the middle of the set before the Duhawks went on a 4-1 run that featured two kills from Mayotte, a Fiorenza kill and a hitting error by Carthage's Slivinski to bring the score to 14-8. Carthage took advantage of Loras hitting errors throughout the set, going on to win the set and 25-14 and take the lead in the match score 2-1. 

In the final set of the match, both sides scored on each other's serving errors but Carthage took a 3-1 lead before Andres Martinez floored a kill to cut the deficit to just one at 3-2. The Firebirds ran away with a six-point lead at 10-4 before Fiorenza tallied a kill that was followed by a kill from David Beach and another Fiorenza kil lto bring the score to 11-7 in the middle portion of the set. Both sides scored back-and-forth on a total of 14 plays, with the Duhawks staying within four points of the Firebirds before Slivinski posted a kill and a Loras hitting error gave Carthage a six-point lead at 20-14. The Firebirds went on to take the third set 25-17 and close out the match with a final score of 3-1. 

Fiorenza led the Duhawks' offensive efforts with 13 kills in the match while Mayotte added nine and Martinez with eight. At the service line, both Fiorenza and Kratocvhil floored a pair of aces apiece while defensively, Mayotte and Martinez each had a block. At setter, Beach assisted on 31 kills while contributing defensively with a team-leading eight digs, joined by Kratochvil and Mayotte who had five each. 

The Duhawks continue CCIW action at the Lillis Athletic and Wellness Center on Saturday, Mar. 12 as they take on the Titans from Illinois Wesleyan University. The match is scheduled for a 1:00 PM start.