Nov. 20, 2005
Final Stats
CHICAGO - Fourth-seeded Loyola picked a great time to put all the pieces together, hitting a season-high .323 as a team en route to a 3-1 (30-26, 30-18, 24-30, 30-23) win over top-seeded UW-Milwaukee in the Horizon League Semifinals this evening at the Flames Athletic Center. The Ramblers, who improve to 12-17 with the win, advance to the conference finals for the eighth time in the last nine seasons. Awaiting LU is seventh-seeded Wright State, which upset second-seeded Cleveland State in five games in the other semifinal.
Milwaukee opened the match strong, going kill-for-kill with the Ramblers in the early stages to take a 12-8 lead. Loyola began to chip away, pulling within 15-14 on a Panther error before three straight points on the service of Sarah Elmer gave it a 17-15 lead. A Shelby Henriksen kill later made it 25-19 before UWM made one last push. A Leanne Felsing kill and a Loyola ball-handling error cut the margin to two (26-24) before Hilary Stromath took over down the stretch, pounding out kills for three of LU's final four points to take the game, 30-26. Stromath finished with six of the Ramblers' 21 kills in the frame, as they hit at a .415 (21-4-41) efficiency.
Game two was all Loyola from the opening serve. A block from Elmer and Stromath gave it an early 3-1 lead before a 13-point run on the service of Courtney Ashley, a spurt which included two aces and three kills and three blocks from Stromath, gave the Ramblers an overwhelming, 19-6 advantage and they would not be challenged, taking a 2-0 lead into intermission. Again, efficiency was the name of the game, as Loyola hit a sparkling .433 (18-5-30) in the set, led again by Stromath's four kills.
The Panthers showed their mettle in game three, reeling off four straight points to break a 21-all deadlock before taking the game, 30-24. UWM rebounded to hit .348 in the frame while Loyola cooled off to a .208 mark. However, poised to make sure the match did not make it to a fifth game, Loyola regained its rhythm in game four. A kill and ace from Elmer started a 4-0 run that turned an 11-11 tie into a 15-11 LU lead, a lead which it would not relinquish. A Cheryl Hegemann kill cut the Ramblers' lead to 18-16, but Audrey Davis gave them service and Jennifer White served up four consecutive points to extend the lead to seven (23-16). A late Panther push saw them close within five, at 28-23, before an error and an Ashley/Stromath block closed out the victory.
Stromath led five Ramblers in double-digit kills with 16 and added five blocks. Henriksen and Davis finished with 12 kills apiece while Ashley added 11 kills and three aces. Elmer closed out the quintet, narrowly missing her second triple-double of the season with 11 kills, nine digs and 50 assists. Junior Ann Deelo keyed a staunch Rambler defense, tying her career-high with 28 digs, as they enjoyed a 65-54 edge in digs and drew even at the net with 10 blocks. Rachel Kuebbing had a match-high 22 kills to lead Milwaukee.
Loyola, which took both matches from Wright State during the regular season, aims to successfully defend its Horizon League Championship crown tomorrow afternoon. First serve is scheduled for 1 p.m. and the match will be broadcast live over Comcast Sports in the Chicagoland area.
