Oct. 18, 2011
Box Score
CHICAGO - Loyola had its chances, primarily in the first two sets, but could not capitalize in a 3-0 (25-23, 25-21, 25-17) loss to Cleveland State tonight at the Halas Sports Center. The Ramblers drop to 4-14 (1-8 Horizon) while the Vikings move to 17-4 (8-2) with the win.
"It is frustrating to put ourselves in good position but not be able to close," said head coach Chris Muscat. "The final five points of each set is when we need to sharpen our focus 100% and execute and, unfortunately, tonight was a repeat of a lot of our recent matches."
Loyola got off to a good start, moving out to a 7-4 lead on a block from Laura Purcell and Libby Bresser. Cleveland State was able to rally almost immediately, pulling even at 8-8, and three straight CSU points later gave the visitors a 16-13 lead. The Ramblers managed to hang in there and the teams essentially alternated points down to the end. Trailing 24-21, Loyola erased two set points on a Purcell kill and a Cleveland State error before a service error gifted the Vikings the opening set.
The second set followed a similar script, with the Ramblers moving out to a 12-8 lead after another Purcell/Bresser block and a CSU error. The Vikings responded to forge a 14-14 deadlock and took a 17-15 lead on a Jackie Dabbelt kill. Loyola rebounded immediately, using kills from Natalie Pounovich, Diana Schulte and Purcell to grab a 18-17 lead and LU still held a 21-20 lead after a solo stuff by Bresser. A Marie Frease kill evened the set at 21 and Jordan Goad was able to serve it out from there, with Frease contributing two more kills to go with two Loyola errors.
The Ramblers raced out to a 3-0 lead in the third set and were trailing 8-7 before the Vikings took over, ripping off 12 of the next 15 points to take a commanding 20-10 lead. A couple of Purcell kills helped Loyola try and claw its way back but Megan Barhorst racked up kills on CSU's final three points as the Vikings closed out the match with a 25-17 win.
Schulte paced the Ramblers with nine kills while Purcell added eight and Pounovich pitched in with seven.
Loyola hits the road this weekend for a pair of matches, starting with a Friday night tilt at Valparaiso.
