Sept. 15, 2006
Box Score
CHICAGO - Sophomore Audrey Davis powered down 12 kills as Loyola shrugged off a slow start for a 3-0 (30-26, 30-24, 30-15) sweep over Oakland tonight on opening night of the Loyola Invitational at the Gentile Center. With the win, Loyola improves to 5-7 while dropping Oakland to 0-9 with the loss.
"I was pleased that we were able to improve with each game tonight," said head coach Marcie Bomhack. "We did not serve the ball particularly well but we were able to overcome that. All in all, it was a good way to start out the tournament."
After a service error gave Oakland a 6-5 lead in game one, Loyola surged to the lead on the service of Ann Deelo, taking a 10-6 advantage on a Davis kill. Oakland battled back to within one at 11-10 on a service ace before kills from Keily Zins and Shelby Henriksen helped stake the Ramblers to a 16-10 lead. A Melissa Craig put-away maintained LU's six-point cushion, 20-14, before Oakland roared back behind three straight Loyola hitting errors to take a 22-21 lead. Again, Davis stepped up to stop the slide but it proved to be just a momentary halt, as two more Rambler errors pushed OU to a 25-23 lead. A Courtney Ashley kill pulled Loyola within a point and the Ramblers closed the frame strong, reeling off the last four points on a Golden Grizzly error and kills from Sarah Elmer, Zins and Craig. Loyola overcame five service errors and eight hitting errors in the frame, letting Oakland hang around despite the visitors posting a -.025 hitting percentage in the game.
Oakland jumped out to an early 4-1 lead in game two before Loyola settled back in. Another Davis kill and a pair of OU errors gave the Ramblers their first lead at 7-6 and three straight points moments later pushed the advantage to four, 15-11. This time, Loyola held strong and again closed with a flourish, scoring six of the final eight points, including three more kills from Davis, to take a 30-24 win and a 2-0 lead in the match. Again, the Ramblers were their own worst enemy, accumulating six more service errors.
The teams traded points in the opening stages of game three before a 5-0 Golden Grizzly run gave them a 10-6 lead. Loyola responded immediately, upping its level both offensively and defensively and putting together a 22-5 charge that gave the Ramblers a comfortable 28-15 lead and Kathryn Langheld polished off the win with a put-away on match point. Loyola turned up the defense in game three, holding Oakland to just five kills and a -.156 hitting efficiency.
For the match, Loyola enjoyed a .203-(-.066) edge in efficiency while also holding the statistical edge in digs (60-48), kills (46-22) and blocks (6-4). All of which were necessary to help overcome 16 errors from the service line.
Davis' 12 kills came on just 21 swings and she finished with a .476 (12-2-21) mark for the match. Zins joined her in double figures with 10 kills while Deelo (17 digs) and Jen White (14 digs) anchored a strong back-line performance. Elmer had another solid game running the offense, finishing with seven kills and 33 assists.
Loyola closes out the tournament with a pair of matches tomorrow. The Ramblers open a busy day with a noon match against Jacksonville State before wrapping things up in the evening's final match, a 7:30 p.m. meeting with Saint Louis. Jacksonville State knocked off the Billikens in a thrilling five-game match to open play this evening.
