Aug. 30, 2008
Box Score
CHICAGO - Dana VanDiggelen racked up her second double-double in as many games and Loyola received contributions from all six players on the floor to knock off Northwestern, 3-1 (25-20, 25-21, 13-25, 28-26), tonight in the championship match of the Chicagoland Challenge at the Gentile Center. For her efforts over the weekend, VanDiggelen was named the tournament's most valuable player.
"Tonight was a great team win," said head coach Marcie Wolbeck. "Everyone on the floor did their job and followed the gameplan and we came away with a nice win. We were able to be more balanced, offensively, tonight and I thought Mallory (Curran) was a big part of giving us some production in the middle."
A tandem block from Colleen Francis and Dana VanDiggelen broke an 8-8 tie in game one and gave the Ramblers a lead they would not relinquish. The lead fluctuated between one and three points throughout the middle stages of the set before a Katie Johnson kill and two Northwestern errors pushed the LU lead to four, 17-13. Three kills from VanDiggelen helped the Ramblers continue to side-out and Curran closed out the opening win with back-to-back kills. Loyola came out smoking, outhitting Northwestern .290-.143 in the opening frame, thanks in part to four kills each from Curran and Sarah Singer.
Game two was tight in the early stages, as the teams were tied seven times to get to 13-all. Two Sabel Moffett kills keyed a 4-0 Northwestern spurt and a kill moments later from Elyse Glab pushed the Wildcat lead to five, 20-15. However, Loyola showed some fight and battled back behind Curran, who had a kill and teamed with Johnson on a stuff at the net to immediately close to 20-18. Northwestern scored on a Chelsy Hyser kill but it would prove to be the Wildcats' last point of the set, as a VanDiggelen kill gave the Ramblers service and Johnson was able to serve up the last six points, with Curran and Mindy Rees teaming up on a block to seal the 25-21 win.
After a tough game three, Loyola regrouped and was poised to close the match out in game four. Kills from Johnson, VanDiggelen and Singer helped the Ramblers to an early 5-2 lead and a Curran kill later extended the advantage to 10-6. Northwestern was able to chip away and eventually pulled even at 13 on a Loyola error. The teams traded points to 21-all before consecutive errors gave the Wildcats an opening with a 23-21 lead. A Johnson kill stemmed the tide but an Ariel Baxterbeck kill gave NU two set points at 24-22. Johnson killed off the first one while miscommunication on the Northwestern side erased the second chance and Loyola found itself with a match point after Curran slammed down an overpass. This time it was Northwestern that was able to stay alive, erasing two LU match points before a hitting error wrapped up the victory and the tournament title.
VanDiggelen led three Ramblers in double figures with 12 kills and added 15 digs. Curran added 11 put-aways (11-2-22, .409) and six blocks while Singer posted her first double-double of the season with 11 kills and 10 digs.
The Chicagoland Classic All-Tournament Team is listed below: Dana VanDiggelen, Loyola (MVP) Mallory Curran, Loyola Jacie Fiedler, DePaul Elyse Gleb, Northwestern Christin Hunt, UIC Sable Moffett, Northwestern Alyse Serritella, Loyola.
