It was “Beat Cancer Night” at Cowles Fieldhouse Wednesday night as the Loras College Duhawks defeated Simpson 3-0.

Set scores for the match were 25-19, 25-20 and 25-16.

Both of the teams wore pink in their practice and game uniforms in support of the night’s theme. Fans in attendance were able to win prizes as well as make donations to raise funds for cancer research.

“We all really enjoy playing in the dig pink night,” said Simpson junior defensive setter Audrey Schuttler. “It’s a change of pace and it’s fun to see the whole crowd in pink. It makes us stand back and realize we have it very lucky to be participating in sports and supporting those who don’t get a chance to.”

Freshman outside hitter Tabitha Blaser for Simpson (7-17, 1-4 IIAC) recorded 14 kills out of 24 total attacks posting a kill percentage of 46 percent. Freshman setter Katie Kieffer tallied a team-high 25 assists and junior libero Kim Rogers provided the Storm with 15 digs. Freshman middle hitter MacKenzie McGraw was also a notable despite suffering a loss by being a wall as she had a team-high three blocks.

The Storm finished the match 34 kills out of 104 total attacks, having a kill percentage of just 14 percent for the contest.

On the opponent’s side, Loras (9-12, 3-2 IIAC) had two players notch team-highs in kills with 9 from senior outside hitter Regan Riley and sophomore outside hitter Kara Grant. Sophomore setter Shawn Riley helped on the Duhawk’s scoring effort with 31 assists and freshman libero Christa Wanders had twelve digs in the victory.

The Duhawks on the night posted 41 kills on 107 attacks, recording a kill percentage of 28 percent on the night.

“There’s only one way go after this game, and that’s up,” Schuttler said. “We are all pretty upset about the loss and we know we need to get our confidence back. We have to take advantage of these games and learn from them.”

The squad will be squaring off against Aurora College and the University of Wisconsin-Plateville on Friday as part of the North Central Invitational and Rockford College and the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh on Saturday in Naperville, Ill.

Their next home game will be a conference bout against Coe College on Wed., Oct. 17.