Oct. 6, 2007

Final Stats

Cleveland, Ohio - Visiting Loyola could never find an offensive rhythm in dropping a 3-0 (30-17, 30-22, 34-32) decision to Cleveland State this afternoon in Woodling Gymnasium. The Ramblers, who wrapped up a stretch in which they played four matches in five days, drop to 4-14 (1-6 Horizon) while the Vikings improve to 13-5 (6-1).

Game one was tight in the early going with Cleveland State surging to leads of 13-9 and 15-10 at the midway point. A Katie Johnson kill and a triple block from Johnson, Melissa Craig and Dana VanDiggelen pulled the Ramblers within four (17-13) and they were still hanging around later after a Keily Zins kill made it 22-17. However, that would prove to be the last point of the frame for the Ramblers as Maggie Bonomini was able to serve it out the rest of the way for the Vikings.

Sarah Singer, making her first appearance since Tuesday night, pounded out a kill early in game two to pull LU within 6-4 but an eight-point CSU run turned it into a 14-4 bulge. The Ramblers battled back behind a pair of Mallory Curran kills, scoring four straight to get within 15-9 and they would get a little closer (16-12) after a block from Curran and Singer and a Mindy Rees kill. It was still a five-point deficit (21-16) as the game entered the late stages but, again, Cleveland State closed strong to take a 2-0 lead into intermission.

Loyola jumped on the hosts in game three, as kills from Curran and Ceci Mattei, combined with a Zins ace, gave the Ramblers an early 6-1 lead. Cleveland State began to chip away, eventually catching LU at 11-11, but the Ramblers still managed to play from the lead into the middle portion of the set. Cleveland State took its first lead (18-17) on consecutive aces from Natalie Bauer and a five-point run later turned a 21-21 tie into a 26-21 Vikings lead. However, Loyola refused to buckle and a Curran kill and another Zins ace sandwiched a pair of CSU errors to make it a 27-26 game. An Alexis Korovich kill took CSU to match point at 29-27 but consecutive hitting errors pulled Loyola even at 29. The teams traded points to 32-all, with Craig, Zins and Mattei coming up with kills to keep the match going, before Cleveland State was finally able to put it away on its fifth try, using a Korovich kill and getting a block on match point to seal it.

Curran and Zins had seven kills apiece to lead the Ramblers, with Alyse Serritella leading the defensive effort with 19 digs.