Oct. 11, 2005

Box Score

CHICAGO - Junior Courtney Ashley led four Ramblers in double figures with 14 kills as Loyola knocked off Bradley, 3-1 (30-24, 30-13, 20-30, 30-25), tonight at Alumni Gym. Loyola improves to 5-12 with the win while Bradley slumps to 11-8 with the loss.

"I am thrilled to get the win tonight and it gives us great momentum heading into a tough weekend on the road," said Marcie Bomhack. "Bradley is a tough team but I am pleased with the way we executed our game-plan tonight. We did a great job on their top hitter and our defense was excellent."

Loyola spotted Bradley a 4-1 lead in the opening game before finally settling in. A kill from Hilary Stromath pulled the Ramblers within 9-6 and LU kept chipping away using an efficient offensive attack. A Keily Zins kill and a Bradley error closed the margin to 14-13 as the Ramblers continued to push. Trailing 17-15, the hosts made their move, gaining service on a BU attack error. Ann Deelo immediately served up three straight points, the last coming on an Ashley kill, to give LU a 19-17 edge. The Braves responded with back-to-back points to even the game at 19 and the teams traded points to 23-23. Melissa Craig put the Ramblers on top and Ashley followed with a kill to give LU a slight opening, 25-23. After Bradley was able to side-out, Ashley found the floor again and Deelo was able to serve it out, with the help of two Audrey Davis kills. Craig, Ashley and Stromath all had four kills in the game.

Game two was all Loyola, as four points on Ashley's serve gave LU an early 5-1 lead. Two Craig kills highlighted a 6-0 run that made it 15-5 and LU was never threatened, hitting .367 in the frame to take a commanding 2-0 lead into intermission. Craig was a force in the middle, hammering down half of Loyola's 14 kills in the set.

The third game was a complete turnaround, as Bradley took the action to the Ramblers, opening up leads of 11-3 and 18-9, before Loyola showed signs of life. Three BU errors and a Craig kill made it 18-13 and it seemed as if Loyola was picking up some momentum but a service error ended the rally and the Braves cruised to the victory. After hitting just .120 in the first two games, the visitors slugged away at a .389 (16-2-36) clip in the third frame. The Ramblers were also a different team after the intermission, committing 12 errors in the frame after hitting .338 on just 10 errors through the first two games.

Game four was a dogfight from the outset, as the teams, essentially, traded points to 7-7. Three straight Bradley points, capped by their only service ace of the night, gave the visitors a 10-7 lead, prompting a Loyola timeout. Ashley hammered one down out of the break and LU reeled off five straight points moments later, capped by three straight hitting errors, to take a 14-12 lead. Bradley battled back to grab an 18-16 lead but it was short-lived, as the Ramblers battled back to grab a 19-18 lead on a Davis kill. After Bradley was able to side-out, Loyola reeled off four consecutive points, two on kills from Zins, to gain some breathing room, 23-19. Ashley came up with a big kill minutes later and a Stromath kill gave the Ramblers a commanding 27-21 lead before Ashley closed out the match with her second service ace of the match.

In addition to her 14 kills, Ashley added 11 digs for a double-double. Zins also had a double-double (12 kills, 12 digs) while Craig (13 kills) and Stromath (12 kills, four blocks) were productive in the middle. Deelo led a solid defensive effort with a season-high 22 digs. Bradley was led by Briony Hammet's 11 kills while Lindsay Stelzer, who came into the match with 403 kills (5.68 kpg), was held to five kills for the match on .000 (5-5-22) hitting.

Loyola returns to the road this weekend with a pair of Horizon League matches. The Ramblers open play on Friday night with a 6 p.m. match at Cleveland State.