Sept. 24, 2022 – Volleyball fans at the Lillis Athletic and Wellness Center didn't leave disappointed on Saturday night as Loras College's women's volleyball team earned a split in a pair of well-contested games with the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse and Edgewood College.

The Duhawks (4-10) went back-and-forth with the UWL Eagles (7-8) in the first match of the day, but fell 3-1 before capping the day with a dramatic five-set victory over the Edgewood Eagles (6-6).

Loras began the day with a tight battle with UWL as the Eagles took the first set 25-22. The Duhawks used a stellar 4-0 run in the second set to take the lead while senior libero Sam Stoffregen was on the serve. That run propelled the Duhawks to a 25-17 win in set two.

The all-important third set looked to be going La Crosse's way, but a 17-9 Eagles lead suddenly shrunk to 19-18 after a scoring run that included two service aces from sophomore middle blocker Cat Gleason. That comeback effort fell just shy as the Eagles claimed the third and fourth sets to claim the win.

Loras and Edgewood College capped off the day with a classic back-and-forth match that saw the Duhawks claim the first, third, and fifth sets to earn them their first home victory of the 2022 season.

Set one was down to the wire as Loras held a narrow 21-20 lead. The Duhawks scored each of the final four points of the set, capped by a pair of Stoffregen service aces, to take the opening frame.

The Duhawks had their chances to take a 2-0 lead in the second set, but the Eagles rallied to score seven of the final eight points in the set to knot things up at 1-1.

The third set stuck to the theme of big runs as Loras jumped out to a 4-0 advantage, prompting an Edgewood timeout. That break altered the momentum as the Eagles turned things around and jumped out to a 14-9 lead in the set, but it wasn't enough as the Duhawks survived 25-22.

Edgewood again stagged a comeback bid in the fourth set as the Eagles finished that one off to force a decisive fifth set. The Eagles started hot with a 3-0 lead, but a balanced offensive front that featured Gleason, senior middle blocker Olivia Smith, senior pin James Keefe erased the deficit to put the Duhawks up 10-7.

That run proved to be the difference as Keefe finished off the match with a kill to give the Duhawks a 15-11 win in the final set. Keefe led all scorers in the final match of the day with 23 kills, marking a new career-high for the senior.

Smith totaled 24 kills on the day with an even split of 12 kills in each match, leading the team in that category against UW-La Crosse. She committed just five attack errors on the day in her 55 chances and added nine block assists in the win over Edgewood.

Stoffregen played lights-out defense from her libero position in the night cap, leading all players with 21 digs. Junior setter Sara Hoskins was third on the team in that category with 17 against Edgewood, but stuffed the stat sheet in other ways as the accumulated 48 assists, three service aces, and seven block assists to help lift the Duhawks to victory.

Loras is on the road for its next three matches, starting with a trip to Mount Vernon, Iowa on Wednesday, Sept. 28 for a match with Cornell College. Game time is set for 7:30 P.M.