Oct. 25, 2005

Box Score

CHICAGO - Senior Hilary Stromath pounded out a match-high 18 kills but it was not enough as Valparaiso (19-5) rallied past Loyola (6-16), 3-1 (27-30, 30-16, 30-23, 30-19), tonight at Alumni Gym.

Loyola settled in nicely in the opening game after Valpo scored four of the first five points. Kills from Stromath and Shelby Henriksen helped the Ramblers draw even at four and a Henriksen ace later tied the game at 10. The teams alternated points to 16-all before kills from Courtney Ashley and Henriksen gave the Ramblers an 18-16 lead. The lead grew to three (22-19) on another Ashley kill but Valparaiso battled back, eventually knotting things up again at 24 on a block. Leading 26-25, the Ramblers got the opening they needed as the Crusaders hit long and a block from Stromath and Audrey Davis on the next point made it 28-25 and Stromath put an emphatic end to the game with her eighth kill.

Game two was all Valpo, as an 11-1 run turned a 3-3 tie into a 14-4 lead. Loyola would not score consecutive points until a pair of Crusader errors, the second a block from Henriksen and Davis, sliced the deficit to 10 (20-10), and another Rambler error gave Valpo the game. After hitting a respectable .222 in the opening game, Loyola was held to a -.094 (7-10-32) efficiency in game two.

Loyola jumped out to an early 4-1 lead in game three but it proved to be short-lived. An 8-1 Crusader run gave VU a 12-6 lead which it was able to extend to 21-10 on a Brittany Marks service ace. Three straight Loyola points, the last on a Henriksen and Mindy Rees stuff, made it 21-14 but the Ramblers would get no closer as 11 more hitting errors contributed to a .000 (11-11-36) percentage for the set.

The Ramblers looked to be in good shape in game four, as back-to-back kills from Ashley gave the home team a 14-10 lead. However, Valpo quickly erased the deficit, pulling even at 16 on a Loyola error. A Stromath kill pulled Loyola within two, 20-18, before Valpo reeled off 10 of the final 11 points to win the match.

Stromath's 18 kills came on a solid .394 efficiency (18-5-33). Ashley also reached double figures, finishing with 11 kills. Amy Palash led the Crusaders with 16 kills.

Loyola returns to action on Friday night when it plays host to Illinois-Chicago at Alumni Gym. First serve is scheduled for 7 p.m.