Oct. 5, 2013
Box Score
CHICAGO - Olivia Akin and Kathleen Vogel each posted 12 kills to lead Loyola to a 3-1 (25-11, 25-14, 20-25, 25-17) victory over Indiana State tonight at Gentile Arena. The Ramblers move to 8-9 overall and even their Missouri Valley record at 3-3 with the victory while Indiana State drops to 7-9 (1-4).
"I was pleased with how we bounced back after a tough night last night," said head coach Chris Muscat. "Kathleen really got us going early and Olivia was terrific tonight as well, especially in that fourth set. It is great to get another conference win and now we have to get back to work and prepare for a mid-week match against Marquette."
Loyola roared out of the blocks, scoring the first three points of the match and never really letting up. The Ramblers led 11-8 when Kelly Feigh ripped a pair of aces in a four-point run that made it a 15-8 bulge. After an ISU side-out, Stephanie Kinane rattled off three more to make it a 9-1 spurt and an Akin kill moments later gave Loyola the opening set, 25-11. The offense was clicking on all cylinders in the opening frame, hitting a sizzling .478 (11-0-23).
The momentum continued into the second set with Feigh playing a big role again from the service line. The sophomore fired two more aces and Loyola received two kills apiece from Vogel and Maureen Carls to jump out to a commanding 10-1 lead. Indiana State was able to get within six (12-6) midway through the set but Feigh's fifth ace of the match made it a 19-9 advantage and the Ramblers cruised from there, taking the second set 25-14 on a block from Libby Bresser and Brittany Brown.
It appeared as if the third set was going to follow a similar script, as consecutive aces from Brown staked LU to a 4-0 lead. However, Indiana State battled back and eventually pulled even at 9-9. Two Loyola errors gave the visitors a 14-11 edge and the Sycamores were able to maintain the lead the rest of the way, using a Cassandra Willis kill to force a fourth set with a 25-20 win.
The Ramblers spotted their guests the first four points of the set before taking control. An Indiana State ball-handling error capped a 10-1 Rambler run that featured two kills and two blocks from Bresser and three consecutive kills at the end from Akin to give the home team a 10-5 lead. Another Akin kill later extended the margin to seven (14-7) and the Sycamores never got closer than five points the rest of the way and Akin, fittingly, closed it out with her eighth kill of the set.
Loyola finished the night hitting .296 as a team while holding Indiana State to a .148 efficiency.
Vogel narrowly missed a double-double, adding nine digs to her 12 kills, while Akin hit a sterling .500 on the night (12-0-24). They received plenty of support from Bresser (eight kills, seven blocks), Carls (eight kills) and Sami Hansen, who finished with six kills in her first collegiate start. Brown was solid all the way around, notching five kills, 21 assists, nine digs, three blocks and three aces while Vicki Wrobel added 19 assists and five digs. Feigh (five aces, nine digs) and Kinane (12 digs) anchored the defense.
Loyola has a short turnaround and will head to Milwaukee for a Tuesday night match with Marquette. First serve is slated for 7 p.m.
