Aug. 30, 2006
Box Score
CHICAGO - Behind a balanced attack that featured six players reach double figures in kills and a scrappy defensive effort, Loyola roared back from an 0-2 deficit and a 6-2 deficit in game five for a thrilling 3-2 (28-30, 32-34, 30-26, 31-29, 16-14) win over Oregon State in its home opener at Alumni Gym. The Ramblers improve to 2-2 on the season after the 2-hour, 45-minute marathon, while dropping the Beavers to 1-3 after the loss.
"I am so proud of our effort tonight," said head coach Marcie Bomhack. "We felt unfortunate to lose the first two games but we were able to regroup and keep battling. It is nice to get back in our own gym and we always play with a lot of pride here."
After pulling off a late comeback in game four to get to a decisive fifth game, Loyola was put on its heels in the early stages. A pair of errors helped Oregon State jump out to a 3-0 lead and Melissa Craig and Keily Zins teamed up for an important block to get Loyola on the board. However, the Ramblers still struggled to find their rhythm and an overpass led to an Abby Windell kill that gave the visitors a 6-2 lead, prompting a timeout. Courtney Ashley scored out of the break but Loyola could not make a dent in the deficit and trailed 8-5 at the changeover. Another LU error moments later helped Oregon State push its lead to 12-8, forcing the Loyola to burn its final timeout and setting the stage for the final push. This time it was Zins who found the floor and an OSU error sliced the deficit to two, 12-10. After a Kaitlyn Myers kill, two more Beaver hitting errors helped the Ramblers build some momentum and Craig and Audrey Davis combined for a block at the net to forge a 13-13 deadlock. A service error pushed Oregon State to match point, but Davis converted to extend the match and another Ashley kill gave Loyola its first chance at match point. It was here that Loyola summoned some magic from its old gym, as Kathryn Langheld fired an ace off the rafters to complete the comeback and give LU the win.
After squandering opportunities and dropping both of the first two games, Loyola came out with greater determination in game three. The teams were tied eight times to get to 10-all. A Zins kill and two errors helped give LU some breathing room at 13-10, but it proved to be short-lived as Oregon State pulled even at 17. However, the Ramblers responded immediately, reeling off the next six points on the service of Ann Deelo to open a 23-17 edge and the Beavers would not get any closer than two points the rest of the way, with Shelby Henriksen finding space to close it out.
The Ramblers opened game four strong, reeling off the first three points, before the teams began to settle in. After a block from Craig and Ashley gave LU a 13-11 lead, the offense stagnated and four consecutive errors highlighted a 6-0 run that gave OSU a 17-13 lead. A pair of Ashley kills helped the Ramblers close to within one (18-17) but the Beavers were able to extend to a 25-20 advantage to put the hosts on the brink. Loyola crept to within a pair at 27-25 on a Henriksen kill but Rachel Rourke scored for Oregon State and a LU service error later gave OSU a 29-27 lead and two match points. A block from Henriksen and Sarah Elmer helped Loyola survive the first one and an Elmer kill spoiled the second one, tying the frame at 29 before back-to-back Craig kills completed the rally.
Those two games came on the heels of two other tight games to open the match. Loyola squandered a 24-21 lead in the opening game and a 24-20 advantage in game two and found itself down 0-2 despite owning a 38-30 edge in kills.
"I think we played with a lot of heart tonight," said Zins. "We finally started playing Loyola volleyball and we really wanted it, especially at the end."
For the match, Loyola enjoyed a startling 86-63 advantage in kills but committed 12 more hitting errors (42-30) and were undone by 19 errors at the service line.
Ashley led the sextet of Ramblers with double-figure kills, finishing with 18, and added a career-best 32 digs, just two shy of Arian Adams' single-game school-record set in 1997. Zins finished with 16 kills while Davis (15), Craig (14, eight blocks) and Henriksen (12) also performed well. Deelo racked up 26 digs to move within 28 of Lauren Holbrook's career-record and Elmer doled out 66 assists to go with 10 kills.
Loyola gets two days after its third-straight five-game match before opening play at the Marquette Kick-Off Tournament on Saturday (Sept. 2) against Mississippi. First serve from Milwaukee is scheduled for 3 p.m.
