Oct. 26, 2013
Box Score
CHICAGO - Laura Purcell slammed a season-high 18 kills and Brittany Brown finished one dig short of another triple-double as Loyola used a third-set rally to close out Evansville, 3-0 (25-21, 25-15, 27-25), tonight at Gentile Arena. The Ramblers snap their five-match losing streak and improve to 9-14 (4-7 Missouri Valley) while Evansville drops to 8-14 (3-8).
Evansville's block was the story early in the first set as the Purple Aces used three stuffs to grab an early 5-3 lead. Loyola responded buy ripping off six of the next seven, highlighted by two kills apiece from Purcell and Kathleen Vogel, to go ahead (9-6) and the margin grew to five, 14-9, after an Evansville error. The visitors were able to hang around and eventually got as close as two (21-19) but a Brown kill and a solo block from Maureen Carls gave LU a 23-20 lead and another Brown kill later closed out a 25-21 opening set. The Ramblers pounded out 16 kills in the frame, five from Purcell and four apiece from Brown and Vogel.
Loyola took control early in the second set and never let up. Back-to-back aces from Brown keyed a set-opening 7-2 spurt and the Ramblers were able to play from in front the rest of the way. The lead was just three (14-11) midway through the frame before Loyola rattled off five straight points to gain some separation. Brown's third ace of the set made it a 21-12 game before Sami Hansen closed it out later with an ace of her own to send the Ramblers to the locker room with a 2-0 lead.
Two kills each from Purcell and Brown helped stake Loyola to an early 9-5 lead but Evansville would rally, scoring six of the next seven to take its first lead, 11-10. Loyola struggled to find the court on offense and the Purple Aces took advantage, extending the lead to 18-13 on an error. The Ramblers responded with kills from Carls and Brown sandwiching an ace from Stephanie Kinane to make it an 18-16 game and they pulled within a point on two other occasions before kills from Emma Roberson and Meaghan Holmes gave UE a 23-20 lead. Kills from Purcell and Libby Bresser made it a one-point game again but another Roberson kill gave the visitors a pair of set points. A Vogel kill erased the first one and an Evansville error sent the set to extra points. After trading points to 25-all, Brown gave the Ramblers their first match point and they were able to cash it in, via an Evansville error, to close out the match.
Purcell was terrific, notching her 18 kills at a .317 efficiency (18-5-41) to lead the Ramblers. Brown finished with 12 kills, 21 assists, nine digs and four aces in another outstanding all-around performance. Kinane was also outstanding as Loyola's defensive anchor, equaling her season-high with 27 digs despite only playing three sets.
Loyola hits the road for a pair of matches next weekend, starting with a Friday night tilt at Indiana State.
