DUBUQUE, Iowa – The Webster University volleyball team played two matches this morning to wrap up play at the Loras Invitational. The Gorloks won both matches on the day as they defeated the Loras (Iowa) College Duhawks in five sets (28-26, 26-24, 13-25, 15-25, 15-13) and the Knox (Ill.) College Prairie Fire in five sets (11-25, 25-21, 21-25, 25-22, 15-4) to improve to 5-2 on the season.

In their first match of the day, the Gorloks finished with 53 kills on 206 attacks for a .117 attacking percentage. They added seven service aces, seven blocks, 47 assists, and 99 digs. Loras finished the match with 67 kills on 27 attacks for a .198 attacking percentage.

The Gorloks came out in the first set of the match and exchanged points with the Duhawks early. With the score tied at eight, Webster went on an 11-7 run and held a 19-15 lead late in the game. The Duhawks tied the score at 24 late, but the Gorloks took four of the final six points for a 28-26 win.

In the second set, the Gorloks trailed for most of the game. They kept it close the entire set and were able to tie the score at 21 late. They ended the set on a 5-3 run to take a 2-0 lead in the match.

After dropping the third and fourth sets, Webster found themselves trailing 6-1 early in the fifth. They battled all the way back and tied the score at seven before ending the set on an 8-6 run to solidify the win.

Lauren Borik led the way for Webster as she finished with a team high 21 kills to go along with 26 digs. Emma Leppien also played well as she led the team with 25 assists while adding 10 digs. In addition, Delaney Demman finished with 14 assists, Cassie Gray added a team high 31 digs, and Tyler Ramstack added 14 digs.

In their second match of the day, the Gorloks finished with 51 kills on 174 attacks for a .121 attacking percentage. They added four service aces, eight blocks, 47 assists, and 100 digs. Knox finished the match with 52 kills on 191 attacks for a .105 attacking percentage.

After falling in the first set, Webster came out in the second set and found themselves trailing 7-2. They battled back and were able to tie the score at eight, but another run from the Prairie Fire put them up 13-9 in the game. The Gorloks stuck around as the game progressed and were able to tie the score at 19 before ending the set on a 6-2 run to tie the match at one.

The Gorloks dropped the third set by a final score of 25-21 but were able to bounce back to take the fourth. The Gorloks and the Prairie Fire exchanged points throughout most of the fourth set, but the Gorloks were able to score the final three points of the game when the score was tied at 22 to force a fifth set.

Webster carried over their momentum into the fifth game as they jumped out to a 7-0 lead. Knox cut the lead to five, but Webster was able to close out the game on an 8-1 run to solidify their third straight win.

Lauren Borik and Emma Leppien led the Gorloks once again as Borik finished with a team high 16 kills and 17 digs while Leppien finished with a team high 20 assists and 14 digs. Madison Katz also had a good game as she finished with 11 kills and 14 digs. In addition, Cassie Gray posted a team high 27 digs and Delaney Demman finished with 17 assists and 13 digs.

The Gorloks return home for their next match as they are set to host Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology (Ind.) on Wednesday, September 21^st. The match is set to start at 7 p.m. in Grant Gymnasium.