Nov. 5, 2011

Box Score

CHICAGO - Freshman Laura Purcell finished with 18 kills, one shy of her season high, but it was not enough as Butler claimed a 3-1 (25-19, 24-26, 25-23, 17-25) win over Loyola in the home finale for the Ramblers this afternoon at the Halas Sports Center.

"I was happy with how we competed," said head coach Chris Muscat. "We went point-for-point with one of the better teams in the league today. We talk a lot about the training process and doing things perfectly in training and now we just need that to translate over into doing things perfectly on a consistent basis during the match."

A Natalie Pounovich solo block gave Loyola a 9-8 lead in the opening set before Butler took control. The Bulldogs rattled off six points on the serve of Kelly Kyle to grab a 15-9 lead, forcing the Ramblers to play catch up. The home team was able to hang in and kills from Mary Kate Styler and Kristen Haggenjos made it a 19-16 game. The teams traded points to 21-18 but LU could not get over the hump with a Claire Randich kill capping a 25-19 opening-set win.

The second set was tight throughout and the teams were tied nine different times to get to 10-10. A Pounovich kill pulled the Ramblers even again at 15 but a block from Randich and Casey Sines helped Butler pull out to a 20-17 lead. However, Loyola battled right back, as consecutive solo blocks from Styler and Libby Bresser followed a Purcell kill to make it 20-all. Two Loyola errors gave BU a 23-21 lead but a ball-handling error and a Haggenjos kill forged yet another tie, 23-23, as the Ramblers battled for the key set. After trading points to 24-24, Loyola was able to pull it out, using a Purcell kill and a Butler error to even the match heading to intermission.

The third set was also close with neither team leading by more than two points until a Kelly Kyle/Maggie Harbison block gave Butler a 13-10 lead. Another block helped the Bulldogs extend to a 16-12 lead and Loyola was still down four (21-17) before making a charge. Kills from Bresser, Purcell and Styler highlighted a 4-0 run that pulled the home team even at 21 but two LU errors gave the Bulldogs a 23-21 lead and that would be all they would need as they were able to side-out the rest of the team, taking a 2-1 lead in the match with a 25-23 win.

The visitors took control of the fourth set early, ripping off five straight points to take an 8-4 lead. Loyola was able to stem the tide but Butler rattled off four more points later to extend the margin to eight (16-8) and the Ramblers would get no closer than five the rest of the way.

Purcell was terrific, drilling 18 kills to lead the Rambler offense. She was joined in double figures by Styler, who finished with 13 kills. Vicki Wrobel handed out 49 assists and added 12 digs for a double-double while Cat Languido, playing her final home match as a Rambler, recorded a match-high 25 digs.

Loyola wraps up the regular season next weekend starting with a Friday night match at Cleveland State.