DUBUQUE, Iowa – The No. 11-ranked Loras College men's volleyball team fell in five sets to Illinois Wesleyan University Wednesday night inside the Lillis Athletic and Wellness Center.

Neither team was able to pull away in set one until Ethan Kuziela gave Illinois Wesleyan (15-4 overall, 3-1 CCIW) a 14-10 lead. An Elijah Passey service ace tied things up at 17, and both squads would go on to trade points until a kill from Bryce Williams and a Duhawk error gave IWU a 30-28 set one win.

The Duhawks (12-4, 1-3) controlled the majority of set two, taking their largest lead of the set (18-12) thanks to a Titan error. The Duhawks maintained control and took the set 25-17 after a Roman Rothermel kill.

Set three started with back-and-forth play from both squads until a 4-0 Duhawk run gave them a 17-11 lead. A Duhawk error cut the Illinois Wesleyan lead to three (23-20) but Rothermel put an end to set, scoring the final two Duhawk points of the set for the 25-21 win.

Set four once again saw both teams even at eight early in the set. After Loras took a 13-10 lead, IWU went on a 10-1 run to take control of the set and lead 20-14. The Titans held on to their lead and forced a fifth set with the 25-19 set four win.

In the fifth and final set, the Duhawks could never put together a spring of points and fell behind 9-6 midway through the set. Wilson Spaulding eventually ended the match with his kill to give the Titans a hard fought five set win.

Loras was led by Rothermel who had 11 kills, followed by Bo Brainerd III with 10 kills while also leading the team in blocks with six. Evan Dziadkowiec had a game-high 36 assists and added eight digs to his stat line.

Illinois Wesleyan was led by Kuziela with 23 kills and 25 assists while Ben Zima had a team high 12 digs.

Up Next: Loras will head to Fond Du Lac, Wis. on Saturday, Mar. 7 for a pair of matches. The Duhawks will take on Benedictine University at 2:30 p.m., followed by Marian University at 5 p.m.