MILWAUKEE, Wis. – The Loras College men's volleyball team defeated the Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE) in five sets on Friday night inside the Kern Center.  

Loras (3-0, 0-0 CCIW) was led by Roman Rothermel who finished with 17 kills. Connor Jaral followed closely behind with 15 of his own, while Elijah Passey and Bo Brainerd III put down 12 and 10 kills respectively on the night. Evan Dziadkowiec handed out 48 assists and racked up a team-high 13 digs in the win as well.  

In the first set, the two teams traded points until Loras went on a six-point run, making the score 13-6 thanks to a kill by Rothermel. MSOE (1-2, 0,0 NACC) eventually closed the gap to two points (18-16), but the Duhawks were still able to take the first set, 25-21, after Rothermel put down his fifth kill of the set. 

After another back-and-forth fight to start the second set, Matthew Schultz's kill to break the 6-6 tie sparked momentum for the Raiders. From that point on, MSOE went on an 18-9 run to close out the set to tie the match up at one set apiece.  

In the third set, Jaral started the game off with the first two kills. Brainerd added in back-to-back kills soon after to give the Duhawks a 6-3 advantage. Loras led 20-15 nearing the end of the set, but the Raiders came back, going on an 8-3 run to tie the game at 23-23. MSOE took the third set by a score of 26-24.  

Set four proved to be another tight set as neither team led by more than three until the Duhawks broke a 19-19 tie with a 6-0 run. Loras forced a fifth set with a 25-19 set four win. 

Despite trailing 4-1 early on in the final set, the Purple and Gold fought back yet again to tie up the score at 9-9 thanks to a kill by Rothermel and a service ace from Jaral. Loras rattled off five of the last six points of the match to secure the 17-15 set five win and take the match.  

Up Next: The Duhawks travel to Stevens Point, Wis. on Sunday, Jan. 25 to take on the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point and the Illinois Institute of Technology. Match times are set for 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. from Berg Gym.