Sept. 8, 2009

Box Score

CHICAGO - Loyola raced out to early leads in the first and third sets and managed to survive an erratic performance in the middle set to gain a 3-0 (25-19, 30-28, 25-11) sweep of Chicago State tonight at Alumni Gym. The Ramblers improve to 3-5 on the season while the Cougars drop to 0-6 with the loss.

"I was proud of the way we bounced back after a long second set," said head coach Marcie Wolbeck. "It was nice to see players come in off the bench and contribute tonight and the win was a team effort all the way around."

Loyola's serve was the story for most of the match and the Ramblers raced out to an 8-0 lead behind four Ceci Mattei aces. A Chicago State error extended the lead to 13-3 but, with Wolbeck substituting liberally, the Cougars began to slowly get back in the set. A Mattei kill and a block by Mallory Curran and Natalie Pounovich kept the lead at eight (16-8) and an ace from Colleen Francis and another CSU error later helped the Ramblers maintain a healthy 20-12 edge. However, some sloppy play gave Chicago State a glimmer of hope and the visitors rallied to pull within three (20-17) before Loyola put the set away behind a pair of Karen Sueppel kills.

The Ramblers' lethargy carried over into the second set, with Chicago State racing out to a 9-4 lead. Katie Johnson buried two kills and teamed up with Pounovich for a block to highlight a 5-0 LU run that made it a 9-all game and neither team would lead by more than two points until two Francis kills and a CSU error gave the Ramblers set point with a 24-21 lead. However, Chicago State would not go away, using three LU errors and a service ace to gain a set point of its own at 25-24. A service error washed that opportunity away and a VanDiggelen kill two points later erased another CSU chance before two Johnson kills and a Cougar setting error gave LU a 30-28 win and a 2-0 stranglehold on the match. Loyola was its own worst enemy in the frame, slamming 21 kills but committing 12 hitting errors to aid the visitors.

The opening stages of the third set were a carbon copy of the first set, with Loyola racing out to a 7-1 lead courtesy of four straight aces from Francis. However, unlike the opening set, the Ramblers made sure there would be no drama, extending the lead to 12-2 after a pair of blocks and 18-3 after a Sueppel/Diana Schulte stuff. It was smooth sailing from there with Kristen Haggenjos getting her first collegiate kill down the stretch and Melissa Hastings slamming home her first kill of the season on match point.

Loyola outhit Chicago State .250-.065 for the match and had 10 different players notch at least one kill.

Curran, Francis and Johnson led the way with eight apiece while Mattei had six kills in six swings from her setter spot to go with a career-high six aces. Kimberly Naut had a match-high nine kills to lead Chicago State.

Loyola returns to action this weekend when it competes at the Country Inn & Suites Classic in Chattanooga, Tenn. The Ramblers open play on Friday evening with a 4 p.m. match against Southern Illinois Edwardsville.