Oct. 28, 2006

Box Score

CHICAGO - Keily Zins had 17 kills and 22 digs as Loyola overcome a late, game-five deficit to earn a 3-2 (30-21, 23-30, 30-23, 29-31, 15-13) win over Cleveland State this afternoon on Senior Day at Alumni Gym. With the win, Loyola (13-13, 6-5 Horizon) moves into a tie with the Vikings (16-7, 6-5) in the Horizon League standings.

"This was a great win for us as a team and I am happy that this senior class, which has meant so much to the program, could get a win on Senior Day," said head coach Marcie Bomhack. "We really battled today and the amount of long rallies showed just how evenly matched the two teams were."

The teams alternated points all the way to 9-all in the fifth game before Cleveland State was able to gain a small bit fo breathing room, using a a solo block and a kill from Liz Fazio to take an 11-9 lead. The teams exchanged side-outs to get to 12-10 before the Ramblers made, what proved to be, a match-winning push. A Viking service error and attack error evened the set at 12 before Jennifer White squeezed one just inside the sideline to give the Ramblers a 13-12 lead. Cleveland State got a Danielle Siefker kill to knot things at 13-all before a Zins kill off the block sent LU to match point, where Shelby Henriksen and Dana VanDiggelen teamed up at the net for a block that completed the comeback and clinched the win.

The previous four games were not nearly as close as the fifth game, and Loyola opened the match strong, pulling away late in game one to take the early lead in the match. Two Courtney Ashley kills helped the Ramblers jump out to a 4-1 lead and an Ann Deelo ace later pushed the lead to four, 14-10. Cleveland State responded with four straight point of its own to forge a deadlock at 14 before the Ramblers pulled away. Two aces from White highlighted an 8-1 LU run that helped the Ramblers open a 22-15 lead and they cruised from there, closing it out with another Ashley put-away. Cleveland State held a 13-12 edge in kills in the frame but were done in by 13 hitting errors against just six for the Ramblers.

Game two took on a similar form, and LU took a 10-6 lead on an ace from Zins. The Vikings immediately battled back and a Siefker kill started a four-point run that gave CSU a 19-16 lead. A block from VanDiggelen and Craig moments later cut the LU deficit to 22-20 but consecutive kills from Mel Snyder keyed another four-point spurt that put the game out of reach.

The third game was all Loyola after an early Cleveland State charge saw the visitors score four of the first five points coming out of the locker room. A five-point run on Ashley's serve gave LU a 13-7 lead and another one moments later behind Henriksen's serve pushed the lead to 20-10. VanDiggelen had four kills in that span to key the Rambler attack and erratic hitting from the Vikings helped LU build the momentum. The lead grew to as many as 11 before a late run pulled CSU within six but VanDiggelen and Sarah Elmer teamed up for a game-ending block to give LU a 2-1 lead in the match.

Game four was a back-and-forth affair, and Cleveland State managed to slowly crawl out to a 20-15 lead on a Fazio kill. The Ramblers maintained their composure and kills from Craig and Zins helped them catch the Vikings at 22. Cleveland State immediately reopened a lead, taking a 27-24 lead on yet another Fazio kill, the visitors had game point (29-27) following an Alexis Korovich ace. A VanDiggelen kill erased the first game point and a solo stuff by Craig tied it at 29. However, it was Fazio again who came up with a big kill and this time it was Cleveland State that came up with a big play at the net, getting a block from Snyder and Siefker to send the match to game five. Amazingly, the Ramblers outhit CSU .351-.190 in the set but the service line proved to be the tell-tale factor, as the Vikings served up four aces and took advantage of three Loyola service errors.

Zins was excellent both offensively and defensively and received plenty of support. VanDiggelen added 16 kills and five blocks while Ashley (11 kills, 10 digs) and Craig (11 kills, seven blocks) also impressed. Elmer finished with six kills, 53 assists, 14 digs and five blocks while Deelo recorded 20 digs, the 12th time this season she has reached that plateau.

Loyola returns to action next Friday night when it battles UW-Green Bay. First serve from the Phoenix Sports Center is 7 p.m.