Box Score

Evanston, Ill. - Loyola got off to a solid start but could not sustain it, dropping a 3-1 (26-28, 25-15, 25-19, 25-13) decision to host Northwestern tonight at the Wildcat Classic in Evanston, Ill. The Ramblers (4-4) fall back to .500 while the Wildcats improve to 7-1 with the victory.

"We played another good team tonight," said head coach Chris Muscat. "We were able to match their physicality early in the match but they were more consistent tonight. Now we have to get ready to get back out there and play a good match tomorrow afternoon."

Loyola came out hot, scoring the first three points of the match before Northwestern responded with the next four. Sami Hansen had a kill and a block in a four-point scoring run later that gave the Ramblers a 9-6 lead and the visitors opened a 16-12 advantage later on a block from Morgan Reardon and Libby Bresser. Northwestern battled back and caught Loyola at 19 and the teams, essentially, traded points the rest of the way. The Wildcats had first crack at the set with a 24-23 lead but a Maureen Carls kill erased that opportunity. Kelly Feigh followed with an ace to give LU a set point and it was not until the Ramblers' third chance that they were able to get the clinching point, taking the set 28-26.

Northwestern spotted Loyola the first two points of the second set before reeling off 11 of the next 12 to grab an 11-3 lead. The Ramblers tried to get back in the set, and used kills from Kathleen Vogel and Hansen to hang around, but the home team was too much, evening the match with a 25-15 victory.

The third set was close in the early going, as Northwestern jumped out to a lead only to see Loyola stay close. A five-point NU spurt helped the hosts to a 14-7 lead but, again, the Ramblers would not quit. Reardon had a kill and an ace to make it an 18-13 game but it proved to be too little, too late as the Wildcats claimed a 25-19 victory to take a 2-1 lead in the match.

Northwestern jumped on its guests early in the fourth set, using a 7-1 run to open an 11-4 advantage. A Laura Purcell kill and a block from Caroline Holt and Hansen cut the deficit to six (16-10) but the Ramblers could not get over the hump as the Wildcats closed out the match with a 25-13 win.

Reardon posted a match-high 15 kills to lead Loyola with Carls adding seven kills and Hansen six with five blocks. Feigh led three Rambler defenders with double-digit digs, totaling 16 on the night. Monica McGreal led Northwestern with 14 kills.

The Ramblers wrap up tournament play tomorrow afternoon with a 4:30 p.m. match against Youngstown State.