Nov. 9, 2007

Final Stats

CHICAGO - Senior Melissa Craig spearheaded a terrific effort at the net but visiting Valparaiso scored the first six points of the decisive fifth game to take a 3-2 (30-27, 21-30, 30-26, 26-30, 15-9) decision over the Loyola tonight in the Ramblers' regular-season finale at Alumni Gym. Loyola will enter Horizon League tournament play with an 8-20 record while the Crusaders, who play at UIC tomorrow, improve to 18-10 (8-7 Horizon) . "I was proud of the way we battled tonight," said head coach Marcie Bomhack. "Melissa was unbelieveable at the net and I thought all three seniors (Craig, Jen White and Keily Zins) all played very well in their last match here. We went through some periods where we did not execute very well and it ended up costing us the match."

Game one was tight throughout, as the teams played through 19 ties and six lead changes. Two Angie Porche kills broke a 24-24 tie and gave Valpo a two-point lead, prompting a Loyola timeout. A Ceci Mattei kill halted the momentum and the Ramblers drew even at 27 after a Craig kill and a Valpo error. However, as has been the case on several occasions this year, Loyola was unable to finish as kills from Porche and Nicole Schultz sandwiched a Loyola ball-handling error to give VU the 30-27 win.

Valpo seemed poised to run away with the match in game two, opening up an early 6-1 lead before Loyola roared back. A three-point run, which included a kill and a block from Craig, made it an 8-6 game and a 5-0 scoring run on the service of White pushed the Ramblers into the lead, 12-10. A Zins kill later pushed the lead to 16-11 and another mini-spurt later on Mallory Curran's serve gave the Ramblers more breathing room and a 22-16 lead. Loyola would cruise from there with Craig, fittingly, closing out the 30-21 win. Craig had four kills and five blocks (one solo, four assists) in the frame as LU hit .303 (11-1-33) to even the match.

Loyola was forced to play catch up in game three after Dana VanDiggelen gave the hosts a 9-7 lead. Valpo responded to go up 13-9 and the Crusaders were slowly able to extend their lead. Kills from Zins and libero Alyse Serritella - on a dig that found open space in the corner - helped Loyola draw within three, 23-20, and a Mattei kill and double block by Craig and Sarah Singer pulled the Ramblers within a point. Again, Valpo was quicker to the finish, scoring the next three points to get to 29-25 and closing it out on a Porche kill at 30-26.

VanDiggelen was the catalyst of Loyola's strong fourth game, slamming six kills as the Ramblers rallied from 24-21 down to send it to a fifth game. Loyola rattled off five points on Lauren Ditscheit's serve, with an ace and a pair of blocks from Craig and VanDiggelen, to snatch a 26-24 lead. The teams traded points to 27-25 before the Ramblers salted the game away, goin up 29-25 on another Craig/VanDiggelen block and a VanDiggelen kill before closing it out on a Crusader service error.

Despite the momentum in Loyola's favor, it was Valpo that surged to a 6-0 lead behind three Val Bollenbacher kills. The lead ballooned to 11-4 before Loyola rallied, reeling off four of the next five points to get within four, 12-8. However, a ball-handling error gave Valpo a crucial side-out and the Crusaders were able to side-out the rest of the way for the win.

Craig finished with 16 kills and 16 blocks (three solo, 13 assists) to break her own school-record of 14 set earlier this season against Milwaukee. VanDiggelen nearly recorded a triple-double of her own, finishing with 12 kills, nine digs and eight blocks while Zins notched a double-double of 11 kills, 12 digs.

Craig's effort keyed a huge LU presence at the net as the Ramblers enjoyed a 23-5 advantage in blocks to offset Valpo's 82-57 edge in kills.

Porche had a match-high 27 kills to lead Valpo.