Nov. 12, 2011
Box Score
Youngstown, Ohio - Youngstown State's Missy Hundelt recorded a match-high 20 kills as Loyola dropped a 3-1 (25-16, 25-22, 19-25, 25-18) decision to the Penguins this afternoon in the season finale for both teams at the Beeghly Center in Youngstown, Ohio. Loyola's season comes to a close with a 4-22 mark while the Penguins end the campaign with a 5-24 record.
"I thought, once again, we got great effort from our freshman group," said head coach Chris Muscat. "They will grow a great deal as we move into the spring and work on our skills and, combined with the group we have coming in, we feel good about the opportunity to compete at a high level come next fall."
Youngstown State took control of the opening set early, using a 7-2 scoring run to take a 10-5 lead. A Shannon Watson kill later made it 14-7 and YSU eased to a 25-16 win capped by a Hundelt kill.
Four Penguin errors helped stake Loyola to a 4-2 lead early in the second set and another YSU error gave the Ramblers an 8-5 lead before Youngstown rattled off five of the next seven points to pull even, 10-10. The teams went back and forth through the middle stages of the set before three straight YSU tallies gave the home team a 21-17 advantage. A Natalie Pounovich kill and another Penguin error drew the Ramblers within a pair (21-19) and the visitors kept coming, forging a 22-22 deadlock after a Pounovich/Libby Bresser block. However, Loyola could not complete the comeback and Youngstown State rattled off the next three points to take a 2-0 lead in the match with a 25-22 win.
Loyola found itself in an early hole in the third set, trailing 5-2 before coming to life. Kills from Mary Kate Styler and Bresser helped LU immediately pull even at 5 and Styler capped a 5-0 Rambler run later with another kill to give the away team a 15-10 lead. Consecutive kills from Kristen Haggenjos, Bresser and Laura Purcell helped Loyola become the first team to 20 and Pounovich wrapped up a 25-19 victory with a kill.
Much like the first set, an early run proved costly for Loyola in the fourth set. After splitting the first six points, the Penguins rode the serve of Alexis Egler for seven straight points as the hosts grabbed a 10-3 lead. The lead grew to 13-4 on a Loyola error before the Ramblers rattled off the next three to stay within striking distance. However, it was not to be as Youngstown State was able to maintain its lead and Hundelt closed out the match with her 20th kill.
As has been the case all season, Styler and Purcell were the catalysts for the Loyola offense. Styler led the way today with 13 kills with Purcell adding 12. Haggenjos recorded a career-high seven kills to go with 10 digs while senior Cat Languido closed out her career with a match-high 22 digs.
Purcell finished the season with a team-high 286 kills (3.04 kills per set) joining Sarah Poglits (1998) as the only freshmen in program history to lead the team in kills.
