Aug. 25, 2006

Box Score

CHICAGO - Senior Courtney Ashley and junior Keily Zins recorded double-doubles and senior Sarah Elmer nearly recorded a triple-double as Loyola opened the 2006 season with a 3-0 (30-28, 30-15, 30-19) sweep of DePaul in the opening game of the Chicagoland Classic hosted by Illinois-Chicago.

"It is always nice to get the first win of the season under your belt," said head coach Marcie Bomhack. "We played very well at the start of game one and then got a little bit complacent but rebounded nicely and played very well in games two and three."

Loyola did get off to a flying start, as two kills each from Ashley and Melissa Craig helped stake the Ramblers to a 5-0 lead. However, DePaul battled back and eventually caught Loyola at 13-13 on a Morgan Ingersoll kill. A Zins kill later evened the score at 21 before three straight Blue Demon errors gave the Ramblers a 24-21 lead. DePaul battled back again to take a 27-26 lead before Ashley pulled the Ramblers even again. After an error gave LU a 28-27 edge, Shelby Henriksen and Audrey Davis teamed up for a block to push Loyola to game-point and another DePaul attack error gave the Ramblers the opening game.

Elmer got the Ramblers going in game two, firing three consecutive aces as Loyola scored the first four points of the frame. A kill moments later from Ashley pushed the lead to five (8-3) before DePaul rallied, eventually closing to 13-11 on a Denae Gibson kill. Zins answered with another kill, sparking a 5-1 LU run that extended the advantage to 18-12, prompting a Blue Demon timeout. The Ramblers kept pushing, closing out the game by running off nine of the last 10 points - four on Henriksen kills - for a 30-15 win and a 2-0 lead at intermission.

Game three was tight in the opening stages, as the teams were tied four times en route to a 10-10 deadlock. A service error gave the Ramblers the ball and three DePaul attack errors and another Elmer ace gave LU a 15-10 edge. Three more Henriksen kills highlighted a 5-0 run that made it 24-16 and the Ramblers cruised from there with Ashley pounding out her final kill on match point.

Loyola recovered from a slow start to hit .290 for the match and a solid defensive effort held DePaul to just an .023 offensive efficiency. The Ramblers picked up steam in the final two games, hitting .421 and .382 respectively, over the final two frames.

Ashley led the way with 14 kills (14-1-31, .419) and 11 digs while Zins pitched in with 10 kills and 11 digs for her double-double. Henriksen gave the Ramblers a boost in the middle, posting 12 kills (12-2-24, .417), and Elmer put together a terrific performance from her setter position, finishing with seven kills, 32 assists, 10 digs and five aces.

Loyola wraps up play at the Chicagoland Classic with a pair of matches tomorrow. The Ramblers open play against the host Flames at 11 a.m. before facing Valparaiso in their final match at 5 p.m.