JACKSONVILLE, Ill. – The Loras College women's volleyball team wrapped up its weekend in Jacksonville on Saturday with a pair of losses, falling to Illinois College in straight sets before dropping a tightly contested four-set match to Anderson University.
Loras 0, Illinois College 3
The opening set remained close through the middle stages. Loras used three consecutive service aces from
Cat Meyer to erase a deficit and move in front 13-12, but Illinois College answered with a run of its own to regain control. The Lady Blues pulled away late to secure the opening set, 25-18.
Illinois College followed with another 25-18 victory in the second set before closing out the match 25-16 in the third. Loras' strongest offensive performance came in the final frame, when the Duhawks recorded 11 kills without an attack error and hit .355. Illinois College, however, answered by hitting .514 in the set and .408 for the match.
Meyer led the Duhawks offensively with nine kills on a .217 hitting percentage while also recording four service aces and five digs.
Kyra Kuehn and
Cydney Tath each added five kills, while
Alyssa Purvis finished with four kills on nine attempts without an error for a .444 hitting percentage.
Isabel Hart totaled 14 assists and five digs, while
Alyssa Daughenbaugh added eight assists.
Loras 1, Anderson University 3
After falling behind 4-3 early in the first set, the Duhawks rattled off six consecutive points to take a 9-4 advantage. Loras maintained control down the stretch, breaking a 16-16 tie with three straight points before closing the frame on a 5-1 run to earn a 25-18 victory.
Anderson responded in the second set, building an early advantage and holding off a late Loras push for a 25-19 victory to even the match.
The third set turned into a back-and-forth battle. Loras stayed within striking distance throughout and pulled even at 22-22 on a Purvis kill. Meyer followed with a service ace to put the Duhawks ahead 23-22, and another Meyer kill later gave Loras set point at 24-23. Anderson answered with three straight points, however, escaping with a 26-24 win and taking a 2-1 match lead.
The Duhawks again battled deep into the fourth set. After Anderson grabbed an early 5-1 lead, Loras answered with five straight points behind Meyer's serve to move ahead 6-5. The two teams continued to trade runs throughout the frame, setting up another tight finish.
Loras ultimately reached 25 points, but Anderson extended the set and captured the final two points to earn a 27-25 victory and take the match 3-1. The final set score completed Anderson's 18-25, 25-19, 26-24, 27-25 win.
Tath led Loras with 12 kills and added 12 digs for a double-double. Meyer finished with nine kills, 12 digs and four service aces, while Purvis turned in an efficient performance with eight kills on 13 attempts and no errors, hitting .615. Purvis also contributed four block assists.
Hart directed the offense with 27 assists and added a team-high 16 digs.
Iva Senio recorded 14 digs,
Carrah Bainbridge added 13 and the Duhawks finished with 80 digs as a team.
Loras totaled 39 kills, 38 assists, 10 service aces and seven total blocks against Anderson. The Duhawks held a 10-10 advantage in service aces and finished just four digs behind the Ravens.
Up Next: Loras returns to the court on Sept. 11 to take on Dominican University (Ill.) and Knox College in the Raider Invite.
