Sports The Lorian March 12, 2015 6

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Mens volleyball hangs tough at IPFWDuhawks hold their own in Thornburgs homecoming to nationally ranked team

by Drew Brashaw | asst. sports editorHead coach Jeremy Thornburg led his

fledgling Duhawk squad to Fort Wayne, IN, on Friday to take on Division I pow-erhouse 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 signif-icance 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 usu-ally 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 every-body 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 clear-ly 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 25-17.

Despite the loss, Thornburg found plen-ty of positives to take away.

We played some great defense, we passed better than IPFW, and our mid-dles did good things,said Thornburg. I

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 for-mer 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 im-possible. 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 Divi-sion 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 Du-hawks.com for the late result.

Drews Views

Beware the Madness of

March

Drew Brashawasst. sports editor

Its 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 Madness.

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.

photo by MaDDy ColeWith five first-years in the starting lineup, the Duhawks have impressed despite their inexperience.

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 7.0Kyle Zacok ..................2 0 1 2 0 0 0 1.0Shayne Marquez ........2 0 0 2 9 0 0 0.0Jimmy Combs ............3 0 4 2 4 0 0 4.0TJ Esporas .................3 0 5 5 2 1 0 6.0Dylan Ross .................3 0 3 4 0 0 1 3.5Danny Krasich ........... 1 0 0 2 2 0 0 0.0Blair Anderson ...........3 0 0 4 1 0 0 0.0Dawid Kasprzak .........3 1 2 1 0 0 1 3.5Loras .................. 23 3 20 29 19 1 2 25.0IPFW ...................27 7 43 33 39 1 8 55.0

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 2.96Jimmy Combs .........55 16 92 24 6 12 39 2.54TJ Esporas ..............56 8 113 64 13 4 5 2.28Dylan Ross ..............55 0 78 31 7 3 27 1.72Dawid Kasprzak ......56 8 54 13 0 8 31 1.53Kyle Zacok ...............52 1 45 13 0 2 15 1.07Shayne Marquez .....53 8 2 74 225 0 3 0.22Danny Krasich ........52 7 1 68 215 0 2 0.17Chris Ortiz .................4 0 6 0 0 0 1 1.63Tyler Beauchamp ......3 0 1 0 0 0 1 0.50Michael Rubino ........7 0 0 7 1 0 0 0.00Blair Anderson ........53 0 0 125 17 0 0 0.00Darin Yrigoyen ..........6 0 0 14 1 0 0 0.00Totals .................... 56 67 524 563 488 34 143 12.44Opponents ............ 56 81 690 637 631 24 199 15.97