Nov. 6, 2010
Box Score
Youngstown, Ohio - Senior Mallory Curran drilled five of her career high-tying 19 kills in the fifth set as Loyola held off a late charge from Youngstown State to snatch a 3-2 (25-22, 25-9, 22-25, 15-25, 15-8) win this afternoon in Youngstown, Ohio. The Ramblers move to 10-17 (3-12 Horizon) while the Penguins remain winless (2-25, 0-14) in the League.
Two Tasha Reid kills gave Youngstown State an early 3-1 lead in the fifth set and the Ramblers trailed 6-3 before finding their rhythm. A Karen Sueppel kill drew the Ramblers even at 6-6 but they still trailed 8-7 following a Dani Soubliere kill. A Curran kill tied it at 8-all and a Melissa Hastings kill gave LU its first lead of the set. Loyola kept pounding away offensively, as three kills from Curran, two from Sueppel and one from Colleen Francis allowed Hastings to serve out the match.
It appeared as if it was going to be a quick match, two Curran kills helped Loyola race out to a 4-0 lead in the opening set. A Candice Carajohn kill made it a 7-2 game and LU still enjoyed a five-point spread (11-6) following a Francis ace. Youngstown State was able to slowly crawl back into the set, getting within four (21-17) on a Kelsi Bitter kill. The Penguins kept pushing and got as close as a single point (22-21) before a Francis kill and a YSU error gave the Ramblers the set, 25-22.
Curran, again, got the Ramblers off to a good start in the second set, ripping two kills as LU jumped out to a 5-0 lead. Consecutive kills later from Curran extended the lead to eight, 12-4, and the Ramblers kept pushing, never letting the Penguins get closer than seven and cruising to a 25-9 victory.
Youngstown State turned things around in the third set to stay in the match. A 6-1 YSU run turned a 9-8 deficit into a 15-10 lead and forced the Ramblers to play from behind. Two Francis kills later capped a 4-0 LU run that forged a 19-19 and put the Ramblers in position to close out the match. However, Loyola was guilty of three key hitting errors the rest of the way as Youngstown State took the third set, 25-22.
After falling behind 9-3 early in the fourth set, Loyola was able to quickly get back into the set, closing the gap to three (11-8) on a Sueppel/Candice Carajohn block.The Penguins rattled off the next four points to restore a seven-point edge but three straight Sueppel kills helped the Ramblers stick around, down 15-12. However, Loyola found points hard to come by the remainder of the set and YSU rattled off 10 of the next 13 points to send the match to the limit.
Curran tied her career high with 19 kills, doing so at a .341 (19-5-41) efficiency. Francis bounced back from a tough night last night to post her 12th double-double of the season, racking up 16 kills and a career-best 23 digs, while Sueppel also tied her career-best total, finishing with 15 kills on 56 swings.
Loyola closes out its 2010 season next Saturday when it takes on Valparaiso. The match will be the last women's volleyball match ever played at Alumni Gym and is scheduled to start at 2 p.m.
