Oct. 16, 2009

Box Score

Green Bay, Wis. - Junior Natalie Pounovich drilled a team-high 16 kills but Loyola could not hang on to a 2-1 lead in the match, dropping a tough five-setter (23-25, 25-12, 17-25, 25-19, 15-12) to Green Bay tonight at the Kress Center in Green Bay, Wis. The Ramblers slide to 10-12 (3-6 Horizon) while the Phoenix move to 6-14 (2-7) with the win.

The opening set was a back-and-forth affair that featured 11 ties. A Lauren Ditscheit kill gave Loyola a 17-15 lead but Green Bay managed to claw back and pull even at 18 on a Nikki Hintze kill. Back-to-back Pounovich kills restored LU's two-point lead but a Carmen Leitermann kill again drew the home team even, this time at 21-all. Pounovich responded again, giving Loyola a 22-21 lead and this time the Ramblers would hold on with Katie Johnson capping a 25-23 win with a kill.

After Green Bay used a 14-1 run midway through the second set en route to a 25-12 win, Loyola managed to regroup and put together a solid third set. A pair of service aces and kills from Johnson, Dana VanDiggelen and Mallory Curran sparked a 7-2 LU scoring run that gave the Ramblers a 14-9 edge. A Colleen Francis kill later pushed the lead to six and LU kept its foot on the accelerator, cruising to a 25-17 victory to take a 2-1 lead in the match.

However, the Phoenix jumped on the Ramblers early in the fourth set, racing out to a 10-2 lead and forcing the visitors to play from behind. Two Johnson kills helped Loyola get within four (14-10) midway through the frame and another push later in the set again saw the Ramblers get as close as four but Green Bay held on down the stretch, capitalizing on a couple of LU errors to send the match to a fifth set.

The final set was even in the early going until Green Bay was able to string three points together to take an 8-5 lead at the changeover. A Tia Rupnik ace moments later pushed the margin to four, 10-6, before the Ramblers were able to cut into the lead. Kills from Curran and Pounovich and a Ditscheit ace helped LU get within a pair at 11-9 but the Ramblers could not get over the hump and their 31st hitting error of the match eventually sealed the win for the Phoenix.

Pounovich's 16 kills were a season high and she was joined in double figures by Curran (12 kills) and Johnson (11 kills, career-high 20 digs). Francis struggled a bit offensively but did manage to record a career-best 22 digs while libero Alyse Serritella put together another strong performance in the back row, topping 30 digs for the fifth time in her career. She finished the night with a match-high 34 digs.

Loyola wraps up its annual swing through Wisconsin tomorrow when it takes on Milwaukee at 4 p.m.