DUBUQUE, Iowa – The Loras College men's volleyball team continued its historic season with a 3-1 victory over the No. 2 seed, Carthage College, in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin Championship match on Saturday evening inside the Lillis Athletic and Wellness Center.
Despite trailing by five points multiple times throughout the opening set, the Duhawks were able to fight back and tie the score up at 22-22 late in the set. The Firebirds benefited from a pair of errors by the Purple and Gold and a kill from Owen Otto to take set one 25-22.
In set two, the Duhawks found themselves down 8-4, but regained the lead using a 12-3 run to hold a 16-11 advantage over the visitors midway through the set. Carthage (17-6 overall, 9-1 CCIW) cut the deficit to just two points a few times during the remainder of the set, but a kill by
Tyler Kratochvil sealed the set two victory (25-21), which tied the match at one set apiece.
Neither team was able to break away by any more than three points for nearly the entirety of the third set. Loras (24-1, 9-1) broke the final tie at 15-15, utilizing a 10-6 run to take the set 25-21 and hold a 2-1 lead in the match.
The Duhawks put themselves back in front in the final set with a kill by
Dorian Fiorenza and a Carthage attack error, giving them a lead that they would hold onto for the rest of the contest. Loras grabbed the set four win by a score of 25-18, to earn the CCIW Tournament Title for the first time in program history.
The Firebirds were led by Otto who finished with a game-high 20 kills. Gene McNulty dished out 42 assists, while Ben Heise tallied eight digs in the loss. As a team, Carthage hit .231, which featured 45 kills and 20 errors in 108 attempts.
Fiorenza,
Corey Mayotte and
Roman Rothermel led the way for the Purple and Gold offensively, finishing with 17, 15 and 13 kills respectively.
Joe Horn handed out 49 assists, while Fiorenza added four service aces to his stat line. Rothermel also racked up four blocks on the night. Loras hit .298, which included 56 kills and 22 errors in 114 attempts.
Up Next: The Duhawks will learn their opponent and the location of the first round of NCAA tournament play at Monday's selection show.
