Sept. 20, 2008

Final Stats

Youngstown, Ohio - Senior Sarah Singer had a match-high 14 kills but it was not enough as Youngstown State handed Loyola a 3-0 (25-18, 25-21, 25-20) loss this afternoon at the Beeghly Center in Youngstown, Ohio. Loyola drops to 10-3 (1-1 Horizon) while the Penguins improve to 8-4 (1-1).

"For whatever reason, this was not the same team that we saw last night," said head coach Marcie Wolbeck. "We did not execute any part of our game plan and seemed unfocused out there today. We cannot play like that and expect to win conference matches, especially on the road."

Loyola was on its heels from the opening serve, as Youngstown State rattled off the first four points of the match. Kills from Singer and Dana VanDiggelen pulled the Ramblers within a point (7-6) and a Penguin miscue later evened the set at 11. The teams traded points to 15-all before two LU errors and an Ebony Barbosa kill gave the hosts an 18-15 lead. A stuff block from Colleen Francis and Katie Johnson cut the lead to one (18-17) but YSU took control from there, reeling off six straight points to put it out of reach.

A 6-1 Penguin run early in game two put the Ramblers in another early hole, facing a 10-5 deficit. Three straight Youngstown hitting errors made it a 10-8 game but the home team was able to get back on track, scoring the next four to grab a 14-8 lead and Loyola would get no closer than four points until a Mallory Curran kill erased a YSU set point and made it a 24-20 score. Another Penguin error gave the Ramblers a faint glimmer of hope at 24-21 but Barbosa was able to close it out.

Leading 2-0 in the match, Youngstown State got off to another good start in the third set, racing out to a 12-4 lead after a Ruth Bascaljon block. The Ramblers responded by scoring the next four points to crawl back into the set but a service error abruptly ended that run and a Barbosa ace made it a 15-9 YSU lead. Loyola pulled within four (18-14) later on a Penguin error and a late run saw the Ramblers draw within three (23-20) but it was too little, too late as Tasha Reid closed out the sweep.

Despite having just one less kill, Loyola had 21 errors and hit just .159 for the match, compared to a .262 mark for the Penguins.

In addition to Singer, VanDiggelen just missed her second double-double of the weekend (12kills, nine digs).

Loyola has a week off to regroup before making the short trip to UIC to battle the Flames next Friday night (Sept. 26) at 7 p.m.