Nov. 2, 2013
Box Score
Normal, Ill. - Laura Purcell tied her season-high with 18 kills as Loyola rebounded from a tough loss last night to earn a 3-0 (25-21, 25-21, 27-25) sweep over Illinois State tonight at Redbird Arena. The win is Loyola's (10-15, 5-8 Missouri Valley) first-ever victory in Normal and just its second in 14 tries against its in-state rival. Illinois State falls to 16-8 (9-3) after suffering its first home MVC loss of the season.
"It was a great team win tonight," said head coach Chris Muscat. "We were able to match Illinois State's effort and intensity on the front end of sets and put ourselves in a position to close out. It was a clutch win in a tight race to make the MVC tournament."
Illinois State got off to a good start, scoring four of the first five points, but Loyola responded by rattling off the next five to take the early lead. The Ramblers led 9-6 after consecutive aces from Sami Hansen and extended to a five-point advantage (15-10) on a Maureen Carls block. A four-point ISU run later saw the hosts pull within two and the lead was just one, 19-18, later after a Danielle Donohue ace. However, a block from Libby Bresser and an Olivia Akin kill restored a three-point lead and the Redbirds would get no closer than two points the rest of the way with Carls closing out the opening set with a kill.
The second set was a near carbon copy as ISU jumped out to a 6-3 lead only to see Loyola rally to take an 8-7 advantage on a Carls block. The teams battled back and forth through the middle stages of the set before Illinois State was able to gain a bit of separation, opening a 19-15 lead after a Loyola error. After trading points to 20-16, Loyola made its move, using two Purcell kills in a 4-0 spurt to forge a 20-20 tie. After an Ashley Rosch kill, Hansen followed a Purcell kill with two straight aces to make it 23-21 and a bad set and block from Bresser and Akin capped a five-point, set-ending run that gave Loyola a 25-21 win and a 2-0 lead in the match. Purcell led the way with six kills on 10 errorless swings in the set.
The hosts enjoyed the early lead again in the third set, taking leads of 6-3 and 12-6 as Loyola searched for its rhythm. Bresser sandwiched a kill and a block around a Brittany Brown kill to get the Ramblers back into it and a 5-0 run later on Stephanie Kinane's serve pulled LU within a point, 15-14. The Redbirds managed to hang on to the lead until consecutive kills from Brown pulled the Ramblers even at 22-all. Loyola had a match point at 24-23 after an ISU error but the home team scored the next two points to earn a set point at 25-24. Purcell erased that chance with a kill and, after teaming with Hansen for a block, closed out the match with seventh put-away of the set to seal the win.
The teams posted nearly identical offensive numbers, with Loyola hitting .202 (40-14-129) to Illinois State's .192 (40-15-130), but the Ramblers enjoyed slight edges in both aces (8-5) and blocks (9-6).
Purcell's 18 kills tied her season-high set last week against Evansville and she hit a sizzling .341 (18-3-44) for the match. Brown had another impressive all-around match, finishing with eight kills, 16 assists and 14 digs while Carls added seven kills and five blocks. Kinane led a strong back-row effort with 21 digs.
The Ramblers return home and will take on UIC on Wednesday night (Nov. 6) at Gentile Arena.
