Falcons Tripped Up in Season Opener

MEQUON, Wis. – The CUW men's volleyball team opened their 2022 season inside the R. John Buuck Fieldhouse against the Loras Duhawks on Friday night.

The first set started tight going tied until the ninth point. The set came back to a tie at the 20th point after a Duhawk attacking error. The Falcons went on to score two more points off of Duhawk errors, but Loras took the last five points they needed to finish the set at 25-22.  

Loras came out hot as they went on a 7-3 run to start the second set. The Falcons chipped back after a couple of kills from both sophomore Spencer Herman (Appleton, Wis.) as well as senior James Althoff (Kenosha, Wis.). 

After another Althoff kill and an ace from junior Andy Ellingham (Burlington, Wis.) the Falcons pulled back within two with a score of 9-11. The Duhawks finished the set on a 14-11 run to finish the set at 25-20.

The third set began with a lot of the same with the Duhawks taking a quick 10-4 lead. After two kills from Herman, a couple of errors from the Duhawks, and an Althoff kill, the Falcons sat at 10-16. After the Duhawks kept the lead at six at the 14-20 mark, the Falcons clicked it with a 5-1 run to cut the deficit to two at 19-21. The run included both a kill and a service ace from Herman.  

With the game on the line, Herman rattled off three more kills with Althoff posting two more himself. 

The Duhawks were able to take the set in extra points with a final set score of 24-26 and a final match score of 0-3.

Herman led the Falcons with 19 kills hitting .529 on 34 attempts. He added two aces, five digs, and an assist block to his line. 

Freshman Logan Kebisek (Brookfield, Wis.) led the Falcons with 30 assists. He also recorded one kill and seven digs in the match.

The Falcons turn their attention toward their California trip at the end of January.