Oct. 4, 2011

Box Score

CHICAGO - Freshman Laura Purcell drilled a season-high 19 kills but Youngstown State served up 11 aces to earn a 3-1 (25-21, 18-25, 25-22, 25-11) win over the Ramblers tonight at the Halas Sports Center. Loyola slips to 3-11 (0-5 Horizon) while the Penguins improve to 2-15 (1-4) with the win.

Youngstown State opened the match strong, taking an 11-6 lead on a Loyola hitting error. The lead ballooned to seven (14-7) after two Jackie Carlisle kills but Loyola hung tough, using back-to-back aces from Vicki Wrobel to get back within four. The Ramblers kept pushing, finally pulling within a point (15-14) after two YSU errors. Loyola pulled within a point on four more occasions down the stretch but just could not get over the hump as the Penguins pulled away late for a 25-21 win.

Three Purcell kills helped Loyola jump out to a 9-5 lead in the second set but Youngstown rattled off five of the next six points to pull even at 10-10. Three more Purcell kills helped the Ramblers regain control but, again, YSU rallied, scoring four straight points to forge a 16-16 tie. Libby Bresser had two kills and a block as Loyola responded by scoring the next four to take a 20-16 lead and the Ramblers were able to cruise from there, evening the match with a 25-18 win. Purcell was terrific in the set, hammering down nine kills in the frame.

Two Missy Hundelt kills helped Youngstown State grab the early lead in the pivotal third set and the Penguins extended the lead to 10-6 on a Loyola error. A Diana Schulte ace helped LU get within a point (13-12) but three straight YSU points later in the set helped the Penguins move out to a 19-15 lead. A Purcell kill and a YSU error cut the deficit to one, 21-20, and the teams traded points to 23-22 before kills from Hundelt and Alexis Egler gave the visitors a 25-22 win.

The Penguins carried that momentum over into the fourth set, opening leads of 4-0, 8-2 and 14-3 before closing out the match with a 25-11 win.

Purcell was terrific, hammering a match-high 19 kills while hitting .375 (19-3-40) to lead the Rambler offense. Mary Kate Styler also reached double figures, finishing with 11 kills.

Loyola hits the road for a pair of matches this weekend, beginning with a Saturday afternoon match at Butler.