Sept. 30, 2008
Final Stats
CHICAGO - Dana VanDiggelen drilled a match-high 15 kills and Mallory Curran added 11 as Loyola knocked off SIU-Edwardsville, 3-1 (25-18, 23-25, 25-20, 25-20), tonight at Alumni Gym. The Ramblers improve to 7-0 at home and 12-3 overall while the Cougars slip to 2-7 with the loss.
"I was pleased with how we came out and played tonight," said head coach Marcie Wolbeck. "We had good energy out there and Dana and Mallory really gave us a good balance. In fact, I thought both of our middles played very well on both sides of the net and Mindy (Rees) did a nice job running the show when she was in there. It was a good way to get our year started in Alumni (Gym)."
Loyola used a 5-1 run, highlighted by back-to-back service aces from Lauren Ditscheit, to take an 11-6 lead and control of the set. Consecutive kills later from VanDiggelen kept the Ramblers in the drivers seat and a Cougar error pushed the lead to 18-12. SIUE would get no closer than three points the rest of the way and Loyola wrapped up the opening set by scoring five of the last six points, the final two coming on SIUE errors. VanDiggelen got off to a fast start, hammering six kills in seven swings in the set as the Ramblers hit .321 (13-4-28) in the win.
SIUE regrouped and came out strong in the second set, racing to a 9-4 lead after two Kelsey Hubert kills. Four straight LU points later pulled the home team within a point (13-12) but Loyola struggled to get over the hump. After Curran pulled the Ramblers back within a point at 16-15, the teams exchanged the next 16 points, giving SIUE a set point at 24-23 and an Emily Rahn kill evened the match at intermission.
The third set was characterized by scoring runs, with SIUE using a 4-0 spurt to turn a 13-11 deficit into a 15-13 lead. Kills from Curran and Katie Johnson helped LU rattle off three straight points to regain the lead but the Cougars responded by scoring the next four, the last two on Sydney Winslow aces, to take a 19-16 lead. However, Loyola had the final, and longest, run of the set, reeling off eight consecutive points on the serve of Johnson to get to set point at 24-19. Four different players had kills in the run and Sarah Singer pounded her fifth put-away of the frame on set point to close it out.
Four straight Loyola points, the last on a Curran/VanDiggelen block, turned an 11-all deadlock into a 15-11 LU lead as the Ramblers looked to close out the match. SIUE battled back to within a point (16-15) on a Hubert kill but Loyola was able to keep the visitors at an arms length, never letting them draw even. A Singer kill gave the Ramblers service and a 21-19 lead and Ditscheit was able to give them some breathing room, serving up three straight points to make it 24-19 and Francis would provide the clinching kill two points later to close out the win.
VsnDiggelen had a solid performance with 15 kills (15-3-27, .444), seven digs and three blocks to lead the way. Curran hammered 11 kills at a .450 clip (11-2-20) to go with four blocks while Singer and Johnson added nine kills apiece. The setting combination of Ditscheit and Rees was effective again, with Rees handing out 28 assists while Ditscheit pitched it with 16 assists and three aces.
Loyola returns to action on Friday night when it battles Wright State at 7 p.m. at Alumni Gym.
