Oct. 1, 2010

Box Score

Green Bay, Wis. - Sophomore Diana Schulte drilled a match-high 18 kills but Loyola saw leads of 7-2 and 10-4 in the fifth set evaporate in a jarring 3-2 (16-25, 25-23, 14-25, 25-18, 15-13) road loss to Green Bay at the Kress Center. The Ramblers slip to 7-8 (0-4 Horizon) while the Phoenix evens its conference mark, moving to 6-11 (2-2).

"Obviously, I am very disappointed in the outcome," said head coach Marcie Wolbeck. "We had several chances to close the door but we did not get the job done."

Loyola got off to a dream start in the fifth set, reeling off six straight points to take a 7-2 lead. Kills later from Bridget Nickel and Colleen Francis helped the Ramblers open up a 10-4 lead and LU's first conference win seemed like a formality. However, two Whitney Schott kills helped Green Bay get within 10-6 but a service error gave the Ramblers the ball back with a five-point edge. A Lyndsey Zabkowicz kill allowed the Phoenix to side-out immediately and Schott proceeded to serve up the next six points - including a pair of aces - as Green Bay roared to a 13-11 lead. A block from Nickel and Schulte stopped the run and Schulte slammed a kill on the next point to pull LU even at 13. A Kelly Mischler kill gave Green Bay match point and one chance is all the home team needed, as Kara Lindstedt closed out the match with a kill.

Loyola played from the lead for almost the entire opening set, opening a 15-10 lead on a Natalie Fiore kill. A Schulte/Mallory Curran block extended the lead to 20-13 and the Ramblers cruised from there as Curran closed out a comfortable 25-16 win with a kill.

Green Bay turned the table in the second set, taking a 13-6 lead on a service ace. Another ace gave the Phoenix a commanding 19-11 lead but Loyola managed to make a late run to try and steal the set. After a Nickel kill pulled the Ramblers within six (21-15), Cat Languido served up six straight points to forge a 21-21 tie. The teams traded points to 23-all before Green Bay strung two points together to even the match heading into intermission.

The third set was nearly a carbon copy of the first set, as Loyola pulled away through the middle stages. A 14-5 LU spurt turned a 9-7 lead into a 23-12 bulge and Schulte rapped out kills on the final two points to send the Ramblers into the fourth set looking to close out the match.

However, Green Bay would not let that happen, opening leads of 5-1 and 10-3 in the fourth and not allowing Loyola closer than four points the rest of the way.

Loyola hit a solid .253 for the match but was held to a .000 percentage over the final two sets (13-13-51).

Schulte led the way with 18 kills while Curran, one of four Wisconsin natives on Loyola's roster, added 13 kills and five blocks. Francis narrowly missed her fourth double-double in four Horizon League matches, finishing with nine kills and a season-best 18 digs.

Loyola has little time to dwell on the loss as it wraps up its Wisconsin swing tomorrow with a 4 p.m. match at Milwaukee.