Sept. 10, 2006
Box Score
College Station, Texas - Behind a match-high 10 kills from Melissa Craig, Loyola volleyball closed the weekend the way it began, with a win over McNeese State at the Texas A&M Invitational in College Station, Texas. The Ramblers swept the Cowgirls, 3-0 (30-28, 30-28, 30-21), and raise their record to 4-6 with the win.
Playing its second 10 a.m. match in three days, the two teams knew the importance of winning the opening game. Loyola jumped out to an early 6-3 lead before McNeese reeled off four consecutive points to grab a 7-6 lead. The teams alternated the next 10 points before Loyola made a move. A Keily Zins kill pulled the Ramblers into a tie at 12 and started a four-point spurt that gave them a 15-12 lead. McNeese began to chip away and eventually took a 20-18 lead on a Loyola error. The Ramblers responded and pulled even at 24-all on an Elmer kill, but three errors in the next four points killed that momentum and presented LU with a 28-24 deficit. Loyola sided-out courtesy of another Elmer kill and she managed to serve out the game, getting two kills from Zins plus one from Melissa Craig on game-point for a 30-28, come-from-behind win.
Game two was nearly a carbon-copy of the opener, and the teams were tied seven times to 13-13. A McNeese block helped give the Cowgirls some breathing room, 16-13, but Loyola responded with four-straight points of its own, capped by a Maria Schmitt kill, to take a 17-16 lead. The game remained tight the rest of the way but a McNeese error gave Loyola a break and a 27-25 lead. Consecutive points from the Cowgirls tied it again at 27 before a kill and solo block from Craig pushed the Ramblers to the brink, 29-27. After a service error, Audrey Davis found a hole to seal another 30-28 win for a 2-0 lead in the match.
Junior Jen White opened game three with a service ace and two Courtney Ashley kills helped Loyola open up a 5-0 lead, but McNeese roared back, scoring 11 of the next 14 points to erase the deficit and take an 11-8 lead. The Cowgirls played from the lead throughout the middle stages of the frame until a Dana VanDiggelen kill pulled the Ramblers into a 17-17 tie. The teams traded points to 19-all before Loyola managed to put the game, and the match, away. Ann Deelo backed up a Craig kill with back-to-back service aces to make it 22-19 and kills from Kathryn Langheld and VanDiggelen sandwiched a McNeese error to make it 25-19. The Ramblers rode Deelo's serve to a 29-19 lead and a block from Langheld and Ashley sealed the 30-21 win and clinched the sweep.
Deelo finished with a match-high 20 digs and joined Elmer, who recorded a triple-double in Friday's match against McNeese, on the all-tournament team for Loyola. Craig, playing back in her home state for the first time, added four blocks to her 10 kills, and received support from Ashley (eight kills, 12 digs) among others.
Loyola returns to Chicago tonight and will prepare for a Tuesday night match at Western Michigan. First serve from Kalamazoo, Mich. is scheduled for 6 p.m.
