by Jeff Schmidt

The volleyball team’s season is not finished just yet.

After struggling through many tournaments this season the Duhawks’ regular season schedule came to a close on Wednesday night against Cornell College.

Before the match against Coe College on Oct. 19, Loras honored seniors Kaity Frost, Julie Rogers, and Kelsey Smith for their contributions to the team over their four seasons as a Duhawk.

Each Duhawk has had their own unique role on the team, logging over 500 kills, 1,200 digs, and 3,300 assists combined.

“Senior night and our ‘Think Pink’ game were terrific ways to end the year on our home court,” said Frost. “We took what we knew about each team and worked as hard as we could to use that against them. Unfortunately we couldn’t come out with a win on senior night, but it was a hard fought, exciting game to end the year.”

During that ‘Think Pink’ night earlier this season, the game ended in a victory for the Duhawks over Central College, which secured a spot in the Iowa Conference tournament beginning Nov. 1.

While not doing as well as they had hoped last weekend in the UW-LaCrosse tournament – winning one out of the four matches – Loras is preparing to compete against fellow IIAC teams come November.

“We did secure our spot for the IIAC conference tournament, so we will be playing the first round on Tuesday, Nov. 1.

We are unsure of who our opponent is and where it will be played as of now,” said Frost.

That opponent will become known after Friday night’s matches between Luther and Cornell Colleges.

Regardless of the opponent, the Duhawks will be sure to be prepared for their competition as they set out to prove that they are even better than their record.

“I think the best way to sum up the season is that it was a very learning-experienced season,” said junior Kenzie Goedken. “It may not have turned out how the team would have liked, but it’s not over until that conference tournament and I think with the talent we have on the team we have to utilize that and we can definitely make winning the conference tournament an option.”

Regardless of how the end of the season turns out, the players that make up the team have a strong bond that senior Frost appreciates more than ever now that she is close to ending her collegiate athletic career.

“As far as my overall experience from freshman year to now, I’m so happy that this is the group of girls I get to be with for my senior year.  We are all so close and so goofy that it makes for a really fun year!”

Watch SportsZONE anchors Katlyn Gerken and Zach Altfillisch go head to head in volleyball for this Sports Challenge.

 

 

by Jeff Schmidt

The volleyball team has mixed results so far this year, but the potential for another championship team lies just under the surface.

Looking back at the results this season, it is difficult to discern a pattern of wins or loses. While the talent and hard work necessary for a successful season are present, the consistency may be a little lacking as of late.

The Central Classic Tournament this weekend in Pella, IA, showcased the team’s strengths and weaknesses.

“This weekend, although we dropped a couple of matches, I felt our intensity, effort, and team chemistry were much improved,” said coach Teresa Kehe. “We are working to step up our defense, especially at the net, as well as become more consistent in our service reception. When we get a good pass, we are able to run a strong attack and force our opponents into a free-ball situation. However, our ability to do this is just not consistent enough yet.”

The first game of the weekend went well for the Duhawks with a 3-1 win over St. Catherine. After giving up the first set, Loras rallied with three straight wins to defeat St. Catherine.

Senior Kaity Frost led the Duhawks with an impressive 19 kills – hitting .293 on the night. She added nine digs, one ace, and four block assists while senior Julie Rogers logged 40 assists and had a team high three aces, adding eight digs to her line. First-year Micaela Mertens and junior Regan Riley tied for the team lead in digs with 14.

After getting an initial boost from the St. Catherine match on Friday night, the Duhawks struggled in the next two games. On Saturday Loras fell to Central College with a 3-1 loss.

After winning the initial set against Central 33-31, the Dutch vanquished Loras, taking the next three. Three Duhawks reached double digits in kills. Riley led the Duhawks with 15, followed by junior Kenzie Goedken’s 13 and Frost’s 11.

Mertens registered a team high 25 digs and four Duhawks joined her in double digits there, including Goedken (17), Julie Rogers (14), Riley (11) and Frost (10). Rogers also contributed with 39 assists.

Against Bethel, Loras once again won the first set, before succumbing on the next three sets. Riley and Goedken each logged 12 kills for the Duhawks and Julie Rogers had 30 assists in the loss, giving her 109 total over the weekend. Riley and Goedken (who hit .303 in the match) had double-doubles with Goedken digging up 13 Bethel attacks and Riley posting 12 of her own. Mertens had 19 digs to lead the defense.

With several experienced seniors and juniors leading the team, the future looks bright for the Duhawks with Regan Riley picking up All-tournament Team honors after this weekend’s performance.

“This weekend was good,” said Riley. “Although we didn’t have the results we wanted, we made steps in the right direction.”

Loras went into Tuesday’s match against Clarke University with a 7-13 overall record, but it came out victorious in a thrilling five-set marathon. The Duhawks and Crusaders traded victories throughout the first four games, but Loras squeaked out the fifth set, winning 15-13.

Frost and Goedken collected a team high 15 kills while junior Cassie Crabill posted the team’s highest attack percentage with .381 with 10 kills. Rogers collected 44 assists, while adding three kills of her own.

Loras’ next game is Oct. 11, against Central College in the AWC where they will raise awareness with a ‘Pink Night’ for October’s breast cancer month.

Entering Wednesday night’s game against Luther, Loras had a record of 6-10 after a disappointing weekend at the University of Chicago Tournament.

Nonetheless, Loras still had a 3-1 Iowa Conference record it could hang its hat on going into Wednesday’s match with Luther. That was because the Duhawks took three straight sets from the Simpson last Wednesday, winning 25-19, 25-20, 25-21.

Kaity Frost headlined the attack, hitting .379 with 13 kills and just two errors on 29 attempts. She added two blocks and nine digs to her stat line.

Defensively, the Duhawks kept the Simpson offense from finding a rhythm, as three Duhawks finished in double digits for digs. Anna Wernimont led the team with 18, followed by Julie Rogers’ 14 and Kenzie Goedken’s 10.

“The victory over Simpson was very important in keeping us in the top half of the conference standings as well as providing us a huge confidence boost,” said Coach Teresa Kehe.

This past weekend, the team faced off with some tough competition at the University of Chicago Tournament. The Duhawks lost all four matches in the tourney.

The Duhawks lost to Trinity Christian College, University of Chicago and Millikin University in three sets before pushing their final opponent, Whittier College, into a fifth set.

“We competed against some very strong competition over the past weekend in Chicago. While we did not come out on top, we learned a lot about the importance of a strong start and being able to maintain sustained effort during each point,” said Kehe. “If you start each set as slow as we did and get behind by five or six points, you are going to struggle to succeed.”

Despite the rough stretch of competition Loras has had to face in tournament play, the team still finds itself tied for second in the Iowa Conference.

“Conference games and tournaments both hold different atmospheres,” said junior hitter Kenzie Goedken. “Conference games hold a little bit more value when it comes down to making the IIAC tournament, but tournaments are equally important to do just as well in because they benefit the team in the end as well.

“However I think the team’s mind-set is still the same for both,” Goedken continued. “Everyone wants to come out on top with that success or win, no matter what the game is for.”

Seniors Kaity Frost and Julie Rogers and juniors Regan Riley and Goedken have led the Loras attack. Riley leads the team with 127 kills, followed by Frost’s 112 and Goedken’s 98 kills. Rogers leads the team with 330 assists via the setter position.

Kehe sees adjustments that need to be made to make the team fulfill their potential.

“I am very pleased with our team chemistry; however, we will be working to speed up our tempo, gain a more consistent attack at the net, and defend better,” said Kehe. “We have a lot of potential and just need to keep turning up our efforts during each outing.”

Loras’ next home match is “Pink Night” night, when Central comes to visit on Oct. 11. Prior to that, Loras will play three matches at the Central Classic and then travel across town to Clarke University for a non-conference game.

 

The volleyball team will embrace the opportunity to play at home this weekend after playing its first 10 matches on the road.

On Friday, Loras was pitted against the University of Wisconsin-Platteville, which was hosting the tournament, and Monmouth College. In a tough five sets, Loras dropped its first match to the host, UW-Platteville. The Duhawks were able to take the first two sets by a total of seven points, and the Miners stormed back in the 3rd and 4th sets to tie the match score and the momentum, which led them to a 3-2 match win.

Loras responded, however, by taking the next three sets against Monmouth College to even their record for the weekend.

Juniors Regan Riley and Kenzie Goedken led the Duhawks in kills with 15 and 13, respectively.

Saturday did not start off on the right foot for Loras and they were blanked by Millikin, three sets to none. The lone high point was senior Kaity Frost’s 9 kills.

The weekend did end on a high note, however, as Loras took Edgewood to the hardwood, winning three sets to one. Riley tied Loras’ second best kill total with 27.

Riley felt as if the Duhawks ended the weekend on a high note: “We’re making progress; that’s the best part, and we showed spurts of great volleyball which shows that we have really high potential for this year,” said Riley.

Most recently, the Duhawks returned to the Iowa Conference play on Tuesday evening versus neighborhood rival, University of Dubuque.

All five matches were closely contested, and Loras persevered by winning the second, third and fifth sets .

Paving the way for the Duhawks was Frost with 19 kills, senior Julie Rogers with 43 assists, and Riley with 22 digs.

“Communication is key in volleyball, and I think that it is something we need to work on and that will definitely help our game,” said Riley.

Loras hosts Wartburg on Friday night in the AWC. The match will be one of four home matches that the Duhawks have all season long.

The Duhawk volleyball team opened up their 2011 campaign this past weekend in Winona, Minn., after what could be considered a disappointing finish last season.

Loras finished the regular season atop the Iowa Conference, but could not close out Wartburg in the Iowa Conference championship match, losing three matches to two.

“Knowing how close we were to making it to the NCAA Tournament has definitely been the main motivation for me this offseason,” said senior setter Julie Rogers.

The Duhawks return this year without the presence of the class of 2011, Kate Russell, Morgan Murphy, Julianne Lord, Rachel Heiar, and Kayla Kehrli. However, the girls still feel confident that they will be able to get the job done.

“I feel really confident because our core team from my freshmen year is still here. Even though we lost some good seniors,” said junior outside hitter Kenzie Goedken. “We’ve been able to replace them and I feel like with our strong foundation we will be able to succeed just as far if not farther than last year.”

“There were a lot of freshmen that came in this year that have the potential to play in the back row at the varsity level,” said Rogers. “It just depends on how hard they want it.”

At the Sugar Loaf Classic this past weekend, the Duhawks finished with a 1-3 record, with their sole win coming against Finlandia University.

Over the course of the weekend, senior Kaity Frost and junior Regan Riley would lead the way with 30 kills each, while senior Julie Rogers would conclude the tournament play with 82 assists in four games. On the other side of the net, Riley ended the weekend with 35 digs, and junior Cassie Crabill finished with five blocks.

Despite the lopsided record, senior Kaity Frost is confident following the team’s performance.

“This weekend was a testing weekend for us,” said Frost. “We have so many options that we can use, so we needed to see who would work best in which position.”

No matter what happens this season, senior Julie Rogers knows how she wants to go out on top in her final year.

“We just want to make sure that every time we step out onto the court we don’t leave with any regrets.”

To say the least, the volleyball team has had a strong season, going through long stretches of the fall when it methodically dismantled opponent after opponent with relative ease.
Unfortunately, after cruising to the regular-season conference title, the Duhawks came just a few agonizing points short of winning the Iowa Conference Tournament championship match, which would have propelled Loras to the NCAA Division III National Tournament.
Wartburg won the five-set slugfest at the AWC to advance to postseason play, while Loras would have to sit this one out despite posting an impressive 26-9 overall record. With its win, Wartburg avenged a mirror-like, five-set slugfest in Waverly earlier in the season. That road win over Wartburg was pivotal for Loras’ regular-season title hopes.
“We had a lot of potential coming into the season and it was very rewarding with the results of the season,” said Coach Teresa Kehe. “A lot of players earned rewards and they deserved it, they worked very hard over the course of the year, and we’re very satisfied in winning the regular-season conference title.”
Before Loras could advance to the championship bout, however, it first had to get through Simpson College.
Both teams had not played each other since September, so they had to figure each other out. Some back-and-forth play seemed to indicate that the Duhawks had a little case of “the nerves.”
Everyone except for sophomore Kenzie Goedken, that is. Goedken had a series of nice spikes and blocks that helped to get Loras going, but the Duhawks still lost the first set,  25-19.
Kehe told the Duhawks after the slow start to improve their blocks. Loras did just that. Goedken continued to play well, and her teammates started to get into the flow. In particular, senior Kate Russell started to assert herself in the second set.
Loras won the next three sets against Simpson to secure a spot in the finals. The Duhawks triumphed by scores of 25-17, 25-21 and 25-18, respectively.
“We were very excited, and got better with each set,” Kehe said. “We recovered to take the victory and advanced.”
Standing between Loras and the tournament title was a big roadblock in the form of a perennial nemesis, Wartburg. The Duhawks took a commanding lead early and won the first set, 25-21, and went on to capture the second set in a  26-24 nailbiter.
Despite being down two sets, the Knights fought back with a vengeance and won the next two sets, 16-25 and 18-25, to force a fifth and decisive set.
“It was very disappointing for us and it took the momentum away, too,” said Kehe “Wartburg recovered quickly and went on fire; we just lost our rhythm.”
Wartburg won the tie-breaking set, 15-12, to punch its postseason ticket.
Although the matches have stopped until next fall, the team still has a lot to do in the off-season.
“The JV team looked great in the tournament, and there is a lot of potential and talent in them, but we’ll see how it works in the off-season,” said Kehe. “What they do in the weight room and how to improve their game will show how dedicated they are to next season.”

— Zach Altfillisch contributed

The volleyball team will be hosting the Iowa Conference Tournament this weekend after winning the regular-season conference crown.
The Duhawks concluded their season with an 7-1 record in the conference and 25-8 overall.
“I did not foresee us dominating because of the strong opponents we face in the Iowa Conference,” said Coach Teresa Kehe. “However, I knew we would compete well. It’s exciting to see our players come together as they have.”
Loras lost its final regular-season match Tuesday night at the Athletic Wellness Center. However, no one can say the Senior Night match wasn’t a thrilling one, as the fifth and final set was decided by a mere 2 points. Cornell won the match, 25-18, 18-25, 25-19, 15-25, 13-15.
Fortunately, the outright conference title was not on the line. Cornell was right on Loras’ tail in the standings until it lost a match against Simpson last Wednesday. However, it was Cornell’s second loss in the conference, ensuring that the Duhawks would win the conference title outright.
The tournament will be held on Friday and Saturday, Nov. 5 and 6, at the AWC. Flyers will be posted around the school for more information regarding when each team will play.
Kehe said that her team has shown great improvement, especially when it shut down powerhouse teams such as Wartburg and Central. She credits the seniors as one of the reasons for this year’s success.
“This year’s seniors have had the most impact on our program of any I have coached during my five years here at Loras,” she said. “They have raised the work-ethic standard and provided the leadership necessary to bring Loras volleyball to where it is today. We couldn’t have accomplished what we have without them.”
Seniors who will be honored Tuesday night were Julianne Lord, Rachel Heiar, Kate Russell, Morgan Murphy and Kayla Kehrli.

DUBUQUE, IOWA – After watching Cornell lose last week to the Simpson Storm, the Loras College Duhawks had successfully earned the regular season Iowa Conference Championship, guaranteeing them #1 seed in the tournament and a first round bye.

The only thing left in their way were the Cornell Rams (17-16, 6-2), but the Rams came into Dubuque and rattled the cage of the Duhawks.

Loras would come out firing, taking the first set 25-21, behind the kills of senior Kate Russell (14), sophomores Regan Riley (13), and Brittney Westermeyer (10). But after making a few substitutions in the second set in honor of Senior Night, the Rams came firing back, and before the Duhawks could spread their wings, Cornell had taken the second set 25-18.

“I think we didn’t step up when we needed to. We allowed them take charge offensively, our defense backed off, we didn’t play good position defense at times in that first set,” said Coach Kehe.

Standouts for Cornell included freshmen Kathleen O’Connor, who contributed 16 kills throughout the 5 set battle and junior Kirtley Hitt, who added 13 kills.

In the third set, Loras would regain the set advantage with a score of 25-19. Out of the 42 sets on the night for the Duhawks, 38 of them would belong to junior Julie Rogers. Her consistency was what played a key role in the Duhawks staying close with the Rams.

One thing that was odd to see was the large number of unforced errors from the Duhawks. Coach Kehe said, “We were playing tight, and playing not to lose, and whenever you do that, you tend to make some unforced errors and silly mistakes that normally don’t happen.”

The fourth set ended with a score of 25-15 in favor of Cornell, which would push the match to the 5th set. Loras went toe-to-toe with the Wartburg Knights earlier in the season, taking that match to a 5th set as well, but fate would not repeat itself as the Duhawks dropped the deciding final set by a score of 15-13.

The loss puts Loras at a 7-1 record in the IIAC, but does not hurt them in their seeding for this weekend’s tournament, also being hosted at Loras. But regardless, Loras would have much rather preferred to finish their season undefeated in the conference.

As for this weekend, Coach Kehe hopes the loss will spark the team and get them to refocus and come prepared for the weekend. “It brings that realization that they have to step on the floor with a sense of urgency every play. You can’t just show up.”

The Duhawks will be hosting the IIAC Tournament this weekend at the Athletic and Wellness Center, with the first matches kicking off late Friday afternoon. MyDuhawk.com will be providing live coverage of every game of the tournament, so make sure to check back.

Audio Interview with Coach Kehe

Game Statistics
Courtesy of Duhawks.com

The mindset of playing one match at a time has led the volleyball team to their successful season with totaling 24 victories as the season comes to an end next week.

The Duhawks once again continue their dominance Friday night against William Penn College, sweeping the match for another victory and their 24th on the season. Senior Kate Russell and sophomore Brittney Westermeyer came up again for the team combining for 20 kills in the game.

As the season is winding down, coach Teresa Kehe feels great with the results her team is racking up.

“It’s hard to predict where the season was going to go but we took it one step at a time and it really showed how talented we really are,” said Kehe. “We worked extremely hard, had a lot of goals set in mind on how to approach the season.”

The team still holds a 6-0 record in the Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and although the end of the season is in sight, it is not quite over yet. The team still must battle Coe College on the road and Cornell College in order to come on top in the IIAC standings. The match against Cornell will mark the season’s end as well as senior night culminating 5 seniors collegiate careers. In order to come out strong the team must ready themselves for the stiff competition they are about to face.

“The team has been practicing a lot to be victorious in the conference,” said Kehe. “We need to just focus on one game and not on the bigger picture of the season.”

Senior night begins at 7:30 pm Tuesday, Nov. 2, in the AWC.