Sept. 27, 2005
Box Score
CHICAGO - No. 10 Notre Dame (9-1) lived up to its billing, hitting .385 for the match en route to a 3-0 (30-15, 30-15, 30-24) win over Loyola (3-10) tonight at Alumni Gym. The loss snapped the Ramblers' two-match winning streak. Junior Courtney Ashley had 10 kills to lead Loyola.
Loyola opened the match strong, getting a couple of early kills from Keily Zins, as the teams essentially traded points to 7-7. A pair of Loyola errors helped Notre Dame gain some breathing room and the Irish reeled off five straight points to open a 12-7 advantage. Two Ashley kills helped keep Loyola within striking distance but Notre Dame's offensive efficiency allowed them to slowly extend the margin. A Fighting Irish error pulled LU within eight, 21-13, but it would get no closer as Notre Dame scored nine of the last 11 points to close the game out. Ashley totaled five kills in the frame but ND's Lauren Kelbley answered with eight of her own as Notre Dame hit .528 in the game.
Game two opened up in similar fashion, with the teams scoring back and forth to get to 5-5 in the early stages. After an Audrey Davis kill closed LU's deficit to 9-7, Notre Dame went on a 12-4 scoring run to take a commanding 21-11 lead and cruised from there.
Loyola came out in game three determined to get back into the match. Summoning some of the magic in the old gym, the Ramblers jumped on the Irish from the outset, opening an 11-1 lead on a block by Hilary Stromath and Sarah Elmer. Notre Dame was finally able to side-out and went to work on erasing the deficit, forcing Loyola timeouts at 12-6 and 14-13, after six consecutive points. The run continued after the timeout, as the Irish reeled off 11 consecutive points to turn a 14-7 deficit into an 18-14 lead. Loyola hung around and an Elmer kill later sliced the deficit to just two, 20-18. However, the Ramblers would get no closer as Notre Dame's firepower proved to be too much down the stretch.
In addition to Ashley, Zins added eight kills and eight digs for the Ramblers. Kelbley was on fire for the Fighting Irish, finishing with a match-high 24 kills while hitting at a .688 clip (24-2-32).
Loyola returns to action this weekend, opening the road portion of its Horizon League schedule on Friday night (Sept. 30) with a 7 p.m. match at Illinois-Chicago.
