CHICAGO, Ill. – The Loras College men's volleyball team took down North Park University, 3-1, on Wednesday evening to remain undefeated.
Neither squad was able to break away for almost the entirety of the first set, resulting in 14 ties and five lead changes. The Vikings broke the final 19-19 tie with a 6-3 run to take set one 25-22 and hand the Purple and Gold just their second set loss of the season.
The Duhawks came out firing on all cylinders in sets two and three, taking both sets 25-9. Loras (16-0 overall, 3-0 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin) capitalized on the home team's errors and allowed their experience and skill to pave the way to decisive set victories.
Loras rattled off three straight points to start set four, which featured a kill by
Dorian Fiorenza and a pair of service aces by
Joe Horn. North Park (3-14, 0-3) stuck around, cutting the Duhawks six-point lead (11-5) to just two with a four-point run of their own. The Purple and Gold closed out the set on a 14-9 run to earn their 16
th win of the season.
Corey Mayotte led the way for the Duhawks with 17 kills, while Fiorenza followed closely behind with 16 kills and 10 digs. Fiorenza added five service aces to his stat line as well. Horn dished out 42 assists, while
Brady Oberfoell totaled 13 digs in the win. As a team, Loras hit .358, finishing with 53 kills and 14 errors in 109 attempts.
Leading the Vikings offense was Vicente Cabrera, who finished with 10 kills. Teddy Gedville handed out 23 assists, while Kaleb Patrick tallied a game-high 16 digs. As a team, North Park hit .142, which featured 33 kills and 18 errors in 106 attempts.
Up Next: The Duhawks head to Naperville, Ill. on Saturday, March 9 to take on CCIW foe North Central College in a Top-15 matchup. Game time is set for 3:00 p.m.
