LA CROSSE, Wis. – The Loras College women's volleyball team dropped a pair of nonconference matches Saturday at Mitchell Hall, falling 3-1 to Edgewood College before closing the day with a 3-0 loss to the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.
Loras 1, Edgewood 3
Loras came out strong in the opener, jumping in front 5-2 and maintaining the advantage throughout much of the first set. The Duhawks extended the lead to 15-9 before Edgewood began to close the gap, but Loras held off the Eagles down the stretch. McKenna Carroll recorded three late kills, including the set-clinching point, to give the Duhawks a 25-20 victory.
Edgewood responded quickly in the second set, using an early run to build a 9-2 advantage. Loras was unable to overcome the deficit as the Eagles evened the match with a 25-9 victory.
The third set turned into the battle of the afternoon. After Edgewood held a 15-13 advantage, Cydney Tath helped spark a Loras run from the service line. Tath delivered three service aces during a stretch that pushed the Duhawks in front 20-15. The Eagles battled back, however, and the teams continued trading points well beyond 25. Neither side was able to put the set away until Edgewood finally captured the marathon frame, 38-36, to take a 2-1 match lead.
Loras again stayed within striking distance in the fourth set. The Duhawks totaled 14 kills in the frame and battled Edgewood to the finish, but the Eagles held on for a 25-23 victory to close out the match. Loras finished the contest with 51 kills, six service aces and eight total blocks.
Carroll led the Loras attack with 17 kills while committing just two errors on 23 attempts for a .652 hitting percentage. Cat Meyer added 11 kills and nine digs, while Kyra Kuehn finished with nine kills and seven block assists. Alyssa Purvis added seven kills without an attack error and matched Kuehn with seven block assists.
Isabel Hart directed the offense with 42 assists, while Grace Cummins led the back row with 15 digs. Iva Senio added 10 digs, and Alyssa Daughenbaugh contributed nine digs and two service aces. Tath finished with a team-high three aces.
Loras 0, UW-La Crosse 3
Loras carried an early lead in the opening set against UW-La Crosse, going ahead 11-9 following a kill from Kuehn. The Eagles answered with seven consecutive points to take a 16-11 advantage and later used another run to pull away for a 25-14 opening-set victory.
The Duhawks responded with their strongest set of the match in the second. A Meyer kill highlighted an early Loras run that turned a 3-3 tie into a 7-3 advantage, and a Tath service ace later extended the lead to 10-4. Loras remained in front 19-15 before UW-La Crosse rallied to tie the set at 22. Meyer delivered a service ace to give the Duhawks set point at 24-23, but the Eagles fought it off. Loras again evened the score at 25 before UW-La Crosse claimed the final two points for a 27-25 win and a 2-0 match advantage.
UW-La Crosse took control early in the third set, building a 6-1 advantage. Loras cut the deficit to 10-6 following a Meyer kill, but the Eagles answered with a lengthy run that stretched the lead to 20-7. The Duhawks were unable to recover as UW-La Crosse closed out the match with a 25-11 win.
Meyer paced Loras with 10 kills on 20 attempts with just one error, hitting .450 while adding 10 digs for a double-double. Kuehn followed with five kills, while Tath added four and Purvis chipped in three.
Hart totaled 13 assists and nine digs, while Daughenbaugh added eight assists. Carroll led the Duhawks at the net with four block assists as Loras finished with six total blocks.
Up Next: Loras will return to action on Sept. 30 to take on the University of Wisconsin-Platteville. First serve is scheduled for 7 p.m.
