Sept. 11, 2009

Box Score

Chattanooga, Tenn. - Colleen Francis and Dana VanDiggelen recorded double-doubles and Katie Johnson tied Francis for team-high honors with 12 kills as Loyola (4-5) picked up a 3-1 (23-25, 25-23, 25-16, 27-25) win over SIU Edwardsville (0-9) in the opening match of the Country Inn & Suites Volleyball Classic this evening in Chattanooga, Tenn.

"I am very proud of the way we persevered and how we found ways to win," said head coach Marcie Wolbeck. "Our block did a great job tonight and we got contributions from everyone, including Diana Schulte and Lauren Ditscheit off the bench."

After spotting SIUE the first two points, three Francis kills and a Ceci Mattei service ace gave the Ramblers their first lead. A Johnson kill and a Cougars error later extended the margin to 10-6 but it would not hold. Three straight SIUE points made it a 10-9 game but a couple of kills from VanDiggelen helped Loyola regain control with a 16-11 lead. However, SIUE would slowly chip away and eventually pulled even at 19 on a ball-handling error. The teams traded points to 21-all before the Cougars inched out to a 23-21 lead on a Brittni Birkey ace. Loyola responded with kills from VanDiggelen and Johnson to pull even again at 23-23 but SIUE was able to finish strong, tallying the next two points to steal a 25-23 win.

A plethora of Cougars errors helped the Ramblers get out to a 7-3 lead in the second set and kills from Francis and VanDiggelen pushed the advantage to five, 11-6. A four-point spurt drew the Cougars with 14-13 but a Natalie Pounovich kill pushed the margin back to four (18-14). Much like the opening set, SIUE would make a late run and caught the Ramblers at 22, setting up another grandstand finish. Back-to-back Johnson kills helped end the suspense, pushing LU to set point at 24-22, and two points later it was Johnson again who polished off a 25-23 Loyola win.

Loyola found itself down 10-8 in the third set before turning it on. A Johnson ace gave the Ramblers an 11-10 lead but it was not until later, trailing 13-12, that LU took control. Another Johnson kill made it 13-all and Ditscheit, playing just her second match of the season, served up eight straight points that made it 21-13 and consecutive Cougar hitting errors later wrapped up a 25-16 Rambler win.

Poised to close out the match, Loyola dug itself an early 11-7 hole in the fourth set. The Cougars maintained their five-point lead to 19-14 before the Ramblers were able to string some points together. Three straight Mallory Curran put-aways cut the deficit to two (19-17) and another kill by Curran moments later forged a 20-20 tie. The teams traded points all the way to 25-all before kills from Schulte and Francis closed out the match.

Francis racked up her fourth double-double of the season, finishing with 12 kills and 10 digs, while VanDiggelen notched her second with a season-high 11 kills and 11 digs. Johnson (12 kills) and Curran (seven kills, seven blocks) rounded out the balanced attack. Ditscheit saw her first extended action of the season and responded with three kills, 31 assists and six digs while helping LU to a .287 hitting percentage for the match.

The Ramblers return to the floor tomorrow with a pair of matches, starting with an 8:30 a.m. CT battle with Austin Peay. Loyola closes out the weekend with a 4 p.m. match against host Chattanooga.