March 29, 2023 – For the second time this season, (RV) Loras College men's volleyball put up a fight against Carthage College, but the Duhawks fell 3-1 to the ninth-ranked Firebirds again on Wednesday evening.

The Duhawks (15-5, 4-4 CCIW) took the first set against the then-No. 4 Redbirds (15-5, 7-1 CCIW) back on March 8 in Kenosha, Wis., and did so again on Wednesday night to take an early lead, but that momentum wasn't enough against a determined Carthage squad.

Loras tallied just six kills in the opening set that saw the Duhawks pull away late for a 25-15 win. Eight of the final nine points in the set went the way of the Duhawks as senior middle blocker Patrick Mahoney punctuated the set with three straight blocks to ignite his team and the crowd at the Lillis Athletic & Wellness Center.

Mahoney accounted for six points in the set, five of which came via blocks as he finished the match with seven total, including three solos. Both of those figures were match-highs.

Carthage looked poised to take command of the second set as they went past the halfway point, but a 6-0 run for Loras jolted the Duhawks to an 18-17 lead. Sophomore hitter Corey Mayotte had three kills during Loras' late push, but the Firebirds took six of the final seven points to escape with a 25-22 win.

The back-and-forth action continued into the third set as neither team could get away from the other. Carthage's Zach Bulthuis was the big presence in the set as he tallied five kills, including a couple timely ones late, that allowed the Firebirds to take a 2-1 lead after a 25-22 set victory. This time, the Firebirds scored each of the final four points in the set as the trend of late-set runs continued.

Regardless of who fans were rooting for on Wednesday, the fourth set probably made most wish the match had gone to five after the sides battled all the way into a tiebreaker. After Loras held a 20-13 lead in the set, Carthage embarked on a huge 7-0 run that featured four kills from David Markes to knot things up at 20-20. Junior hitter Tyler Kratochvil tallied a pair of big kills for the Duhawks as they got back out to a 24-22 lead, but despite no kills or blocks, the Firebirds took the final four points to claim the tiebreaker 26-24.  

Mahoney finished with eight kills to accompany his seven blocks to finish third on the team behind Mayotte's 12 and senior hitter Dorian Fiorenza's 11. Fiorenza also notched four service aces to give the Duhawks a 10-4 advantage in that category for the match.

Despite a pair of well-contested matches between the two sides this regular season, Loras is still winless (0-15) all-time against Carthage.

The Duhawks take a break from College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) play on Friday, March 31 when they play the University of California, Santa Cruz in Aurora, Ill. at 5:00 P.M.