Nov. 3, 2012

Box Score

Milwaukee, Wis. - Brittany Brown recorded her first career triple-double and Anna Eytchison rapped out a match-high 18 kills to lead Loyola to a 3-1 (26-24, 25-20, 22-25, 25-17) win over Milwaukee this afternoon at the Klotsche Center. The Ramblers, who earned their first season sweep of Milwaukee since 1996, snap their three-match losing streak and improve to 16-10 (8-5 Horizon) while the Panthers slump to 8-18 (3-9) with the loss.

"It was nice to get back to doing some of the things we have been doing all season and rebound with a nice road win today," said head coach Chris Muscat. "Part of the growing process of a young team is learning how to stay aggressive during a match and we took a step in the right direction that way today."

The Ramblers got off to a solid start, scoring the first three points of the match and taking a 7-4 lead later on an Eytchison ace. Milwaukee rebounded to take the lead at 9-8 and opened up a 13-9 advantage on a Loyola error. After trading points to 14-10, Eytchison teamed up with Libby Bresser twice and Nichole Riedel once for blocks as the Ramblers rattled off five straight points to grab a 15-14 lead. After UWM's Rachel Neuberger forged a 21-21 tie, Loyola scored the next three to earn three set points. However, the home team erased all three and pulled even at 24 but a block from Riedel and Laura Purcell gave the Ramblers a fourth opportunity and a Panther error gave the visitors a 26-24 win.

Loyola carried the momentum into the second set, scoring five of the first six points of the match to play from in front. Vogel had two kills in a five-point scoring run later that gave LU a commanding 13-4 lead and an Eytchison kill later made it 21-10. A Brown kill made it 24-15 but the Ramblers would have to work for that final point, with UWM rattling off five consecutive points before a Riedel kill sent Loyola into intermission with a 2-0 lead in the match.

The third set was close throughout and neither team led by more than two points until Milwaukee scored three consecutive points to grab an 18-14 lead. The lead ballooned to five (22-17) on a Sammi Herron kill and the Panthers earned a handful of set points with a 24-19 lead. Two Vogel kills kept Loyola alive and a Brown kill made it 24-22 before Neuberger wrapped up the set with a kill.

The fourth set got off to a similar start as the second frame, as an Eytchison and Bresser block gave LU an early 4-1 lead. Two Eytchison kills helped the Ramblers extend the margin to seven (9-2) and it was still a 13-5 lead later after a Brown ace before UWM rallied. A Loyola error saw the home team get within three, 16-13, but two big kills from Vogel and another from Brown helped the Ramblers crawl back out to a six-point lead (20-14) and the Panthers would get no closer than five the rest of the way, with Eytchison's 18th kill closing out the match.

Brown finished with 10 kills, 29 assists, 10 digs and four blocks in a sterling performance to lead the way. Eytchison posted a double-double of 18 kills and 12 digs while Purcell also reached double digits, finishing with 10 kills. Bresser and Riedel led a strong Rambler block with eight stuffs apiece as Loyola racked up 16 blocks for the match.

"Today was a terrific team effort," continued Muscat. "I thought Brittany and Vicki (Wrobel) were both fantastic and hopefully we can use this to build some momentum for the Horizon League Tournament."

The Ramblers wrap up the regular season next Saturday with a pivotal match at UIC. First serve is set for 2 p.m.