Sports

Mens volleyball hangs tough at IPFW

Duhawks hold their own in
Thornburgs homecoming
to nationally ranked team
by Drew Brashaw | asst. sports editor

Head coach Jeremy Thornburg led his

fledgling Duhawk squad to Fort Wayne,
IN, on Friday to take on Division I powerhouse IPFW. The matchup featured
two programs from opposite ends of the
college volleyball spectrum, and it played
out much like it was billed, as the no. 13
Mastodons trampled the Duhawks in
straight sets.
Aside from being Loras toughest test
to date, the match held some extra significance for Thornburg, who got his start
in coaching at IPFW under head coach
Arnie Ball.
It was a little overwhelming, to be
honest, Thornburg said. I dont usually get nervous before a match, but I
was nervous before that one. I wanted to
show everybody that weve been putting
in the hard work, and I wanted everybody to be proud of that. Theres a lot of
excitement, theres a lot of anxiousness, a
lot of nervousness, but once the first point
got out of the way it was fine.
While the Duhawks (3-13) were clearly outmatched on the court, they battled
valiantly against one of the top programs
in the nation.
Senior Michael Kreiser and first-year
T.J. Esporas led the Duhawks with 5 kills
each, with Kreiser adding 2 service aces.
But as a team, Loras hit for only .039 in
the match while committing 13 errors,
and couldnt push the match past 3 sets.
IPFW (11-5) won 25-19, 25-10, and 2517.
Despite the loss, Thornburg found plenty of positives to take away.
We played some great defense, we
passed better than IPFW, and our middles did good things,said Thornburg. I

The Lorian March 12, 2015

Drews Views

Beware the
Madness of
March

photo by Maddy Cole

With five first-years in the starting lineup, the Duhawks have impressed despite
their inexperience.
think the team was pleased with how they
played, so thats a positive thing.
Its a rewarding feeling to know that
they played really hard and they kept up,
continued Thornburg. They did some
things that were impressive not only to me,
but to IPFW and the fans in the stands,
and even some All-Americans who are former players at IPFW who came over and
complimented us afterwards. That was
probably the best feeling that I could get.
Competing against IPFW is a challenge
even for established Division I teams; for
a young Loras program still trying to find
its identity, the task may seem nearly impossible. Thornburg understood that when

he made his teams schedule.

The team knows that Ive scheduled
tough for a reason, Thornburg said.
With so many of them being first-years,
I want them to know that weve already
been in that situation by their sophomore
year, so they can say weve been there and
done that when we play against the no. 1
team (in Division III) like we did this year
against Stevens, or we play against a Division I team like IPFW.
The Duhawks will next be in action on
Wednesday, March 11, as they travel to
Lisle, IL, to take on Benedictine. Visit Duhawks.com for the late result.

IPFW 3, Loras 0
(25-19, 25-10, 25-17)
Loras (3-13)......... SP AC Kl Dg Ast BS BA Pts
Michael Kreiser........... 3 2 5 7
1 0 0 7.0
Kyle Zacok................... 2 0 1 2
0 0 0 1.0
Shayne Marquez......... 2 0 0 2
9 0 0 0.0
Jimmy Combs............. 3 0 4 2
4 0 0 4.0
TJ Esporas.................. 3 0 5 5
2
1 0 6.0
Dylan Ross.................. 3 0 3 4
0 0 1 3.5
Danny Krasich............ 1 0 0 2
2 0 0 0.0
Blair Anderson............ 3 0 0 4
1 0 0 0.0
Dawid Kasprzak.......... 3 1 2 1
0 0 1 3.5
Loras................... 23 3 20 29 19 1 2 25.0
IPFW....................27 7 43 33 39 1 8 55.0

WE GOT
THIS

Season statistics
(Through Friday, March 6)
Player................ SP AC Kl Dg Ast BS BA Pts/S
Michael Kreiser........56 19 132 130 3 5 19 2.96
Jimmy Combs..........55 16 92 24 6 12 39 2.54
TJ Esporas...............56 8 113 64 13 4 5 2.28
Dylan Ross...............55 0 78 31 7 3 27 1.72
Dawid Kasprzak.......56 8 54 13 0 8 31 1.53
Kyle Zacok................52
1 45 13 0 2 15 1.07
Shayne Marquez......53 8 2 74 225 0 3 0.22
Danny Krasich.........52
7 1 68 215 0 2 0.17
Chris Ortiz..................4 0 6 0 0 0 1 1.63
Tyler Beauchamp.......3 0 1 0 0 0 1 0.50
Michael Rubino.........7 0 0 7 1 0 0 0.00
Blair Anderson.........53 0 0 125 17 0 0 0.00
Darin Yrigoyen...........6 0 0 14 1 0 0 0.00

JJ CATERING

Totals..................... 56 67 524 563 488 34 143 12.44

Opponents............. 56 81 690 637 631 24 199 15.97

SERIOUS DELIVERY!

TM

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For the latest results,

up-to-date statistics,
live-streaming games
and much more:
visit Duhawks.com:
your home for Loras
College Athletics

ts that time of
year again, friends:
the season of high
hopes and heartbreak,
when dreams come
true for some, but most
are left wanting.
Its time for March
Drew Brashaw Madness.
asst. sports editor
Now, I understand
that theres a
very popular collegiate basketball
tournament held every Spring, but
thats not what Im talking about, so
you can put your brackets away for
now. No, the March Madness to which
I refer is the NFLs annual free agent
feeding frenzy, and this March has
been as mad as any I can recall.
For football fans who believe their
favorite team is just a player away
from becoming a legitimate Super
Bowl contender, free agency provides
a glimmer of hope. NFL fans, in their
infinite wisdom, clamor for their
teams owners and general managers
to dig deep into their pocketbooks and
sign whichever flashy names happen
to be available, no matter the cost. The
fans want to win now, and they see free
agency as a quick and easy fix.
Unfortunately, winning in the NFL is
neither quick, nor easy.
Free agent fever among fans is a
perfectly understandable affliction.
Fans want the big names, and most
of the time, they dont care about the
implications of the accompanying
price tag. I get it, football fans arent
economists. But when owners and
GMs fall into the trap and begin
mortgaging their teams futures for
a chance to win now, thats when the
madness ensues.
As of The Lorians press time, it
is being reported that the Miami
Dolphins are on the verge of signing
free agent defensive tackle Ndamukong
Suh to a deal which would make the
former Lion the highest-paid defender
in the history of the known universe.
According to multiple reports, the
Dolphins plan to pay Suh the type of
money ($17 million per year, almost
$60 million guaranteed) normally
reserved for the starting quarterbacks
hes accustomed to stomping upon.
It seems a bit excessive to invest so
richly in a player who will never throw
a touchdown pass, but maybe the
Dolphins are hoping Suh will tear off
Tom Bradys throwing arm so they can
attach it to Ryan Tannehill.
The current hubbub surrounding
Suh reminds me of last March, when
fans around the league decided Byrd
was the word, and tied their hopes
and dreams to landing Jairus Byrd in
free agency. The New Orleans Saints
signed the much sought-after safety
to a 6-year, $56 million deal, and still
failed to reach the postseason. Aside
from long-term salary cap devastation,
there are no guarantees when courting
high-profile free agents.
Of course, there have been cases
where big ticket free agent signings
have produced the desired effect. One
need look no further than those same
New Orleans Saints, and their signing
of Drew Brees in 2006. Brees led the
Saints to victory in Super Bowl XLIV.
And then of course, theres Reggie
White, the patron saint of free agency.
White was a key part of the Green Bay
Packers resurgence in the mid-90s, a
revitalization that has lasted more than
two decades.
But for every Drew Brees or
Reggie White, there are dozens of
Albert Haynesworths and Nnamdi
Asomughas, who contribute nothing
to their new teams but heartache and
dead money.
Its madness.