Tigers drop home game in four sets

Ruble Arena was rocking early in Iowa Wesleyan's home game on Tuesday night, but a reslient Loras College team quieted the home crowd in the final three sets. IW led coast-to-coast to win the first set, but the DuHawks won three straight to knock off the Tigers 3-1.

The Tigers jumped out to an early lead in the first set, scoring the first six points of the set. Loras couldn't rebound from their sluggish start and IW held the lead throughout the entire game.

The Tiger defense flew around the court to stop Loras attacks throughout the first set. The DuHawks helped IW out a bit by committing eight errors.

Loras continued to have mistakes in the second set, committing 10 errors, but their attacks started to get to the IW defense. The Duhawks pulled off a 25-19 win in the second set, and it was all tied up at 1-1.

The wheels fell off for IW in the third set, partially due to a crisper game from Loras. The third set was the only game where IW had more errors than the DuHawks, committing seven mistakes to Loras' four.

Loras jumped out to a double-digit at 21-11 and cruised to a 25-14 victory, putting the Tigers' backs against the walls.

Loras and IW traded punches in the fourth set, which turned out to be the closest game of the match. After going back-and-forth through the first 35 points, Loras pulled away for a 23-18 lead, but the Tigers didn't go down easy.

A DuHawk serving error sparked a 5-1 Tiger run that had IW just one point away, at 25-24. A Loras attack went off an IW defender and into the net, ending the Tiger threat and allowing Loras to escape 25-23 for the four-set win.

Sydney Ellsworth and Lida Landre co-led the Tigers with seven kills apiece. Ellsworth also added 10 digs on the night. Jordan Miller was the Tigers' third-leading hitter, with five kills.

Jenna Murphy had 25 digs on the day to lead the squad. Ariel Smale was second on the team with 12 digs, and led the squad with 12 assists. Paige Kammerer had eight assists and eight digs on the day.

IW had eight aces on the night. Kammerer, Ellsworth and Cass Schwamborn all had two aces. Smale and Murphy each finished with one.

The Tigers fell to 3-11 overall with the loss. The Tigers are 2-4 in conference play, and will be at Webster University in their next match on Friday, Sept. 28, at 7 p.m.