Final Stats

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - Stephanie Kinane broke Loyola's all-time career digs record en route to the Loyola University Chicago volleyball team defeating Missouri State, 3-1 (25-21, 20-25, 25-21, 25-16) on Friday night. The win marks the first time in program history that the Ramblers have defeated the Bears. Loyola improves to 17-3 on the season and are tied for the best record in the Missouri Valley Conference at 6-1.

"It was a great team performance tonight," said head coach Chris Muscat. "We found ways defensively to give us point opportunities and converted down the stretch."

Stephanie Kinane needed just 17 digs to break Loyola's all-time career digs record (1,742), but the senior tallied 22 digs in the victory to up her total to 1,748 during her time in Rogers Park. The previous record was held by Ann Deelo, who totaled 1,742 digs from 2003 to 2006.

"It was a great night for Stephanie," continued Muscat. "We are incredibly proud of what she has been able to accomplish while a Rambler, and look forward to her continued progress this year."

"We played against a really tough team today that put a lot of pressure on us," added Kinane. "I thought as a team we were very persistent, and I had a lot of fun playing with this group of girls tonight."

The Ramblers were led by Gabi Maciagowski, who recorded a career-high 13 kills, while Morgan Reardon and Amanda Cushen also reached double figures, totaling 11 and 10 kills, respectively. Caroline Holt posted her first double-double of the season, recording a match-high 36 assists to go along with a career-high 20 digs, while Jackie Kocken matched her career-high of nine blocks.

After trading points to open set one, Loyola scored three straight behind a Maciagowski kill, followed by a solo block and a kill from Brittany Brown, to take a 10-7 lead. The teams then battled back-and-forth until another three-point Rambler run, including kills from Maciagowski and Reardon, increased Loyola's lead to 17-12, forcing a Missouri State timeout. Loyola maintained the steady lead behind a Maciagowski kill, a Maddy Moser service ace and a solo block from Maureen Carls until Cushen scored three of the next four points, recording a pair of kills and a service ace, to up the Rambler lead to 23-16 and force the Bears to use their final timeout. A Brown kill gave Loyola set point before the Bears scored five straight to cut the lead to 24-21, forcing Loyola to use both timeouts during the stretch. A Brown kill out of the final timeout then ended set one, 25-21, to give Loyola the overall 1-0 lead.

Missouri State jumped out to a 6-2 lead to begin set two, but a pair of Bear errors and a Carls kill then cut the lead to two points. The Bears then scored three of the next four points to up the lead to 10-6, forcing a Rambler timeout. After trading points, Missouri State scored back-to-back to increase the lead to 14-9, forcing Loyola to use its final timeout. The Bears continued to rally out of the timeout, eventually upping the score to 21-14, but back-to-back kills from Maciagowski and Carls, followed by a Carls service ace, cut the lead to four and forced a Missouri State timeout. The Ramblers continued to battle, as Kocken combined with Brown and Morgan Gresham for back-to-back blocks, but Missouri State held on to take set two, 25-20.

The Ramblers raced out to an early 4-0 lead in set two, but the Bears rallied to eventually tie the set at 10-10, forcing a Loyola timeout. The Ramblers then scored three of the next four points, including kills from Holt and Reardon, to go back on top, 13-11, and force Missouri State to call a timeout. Loyola continued to build on the lead until back-to-back kills from Cushen upped the score to 20-16, giving the Ramblers their biggest lead since the beginning of the set. Loyola reached set point on a trio of Cushen kills and a Bear error, but Missouri State scored three straight to cut the lead to 24-21, forcing a Rambler timeout. A Carls kill sealed the set three victory, 25-21, to give Loyola the overall 2-1 lead.

Loyola took an early lead in set four, led by kills from Carls, Maciagowski and Reardon, before a Kocken-Maciagowski block upped the score to 8-4, forcing a Missouri State timeout. The Bears battled back and managed to cut the lead to one point, but back-to-back kills from Holt and Reardon increased the Loyola lead to 15-12. After a five-point run that included a Maciagowski kill and a pair of Kocken-Maciagowski blocks, the Ramblers led 21-13, with Missouri State out of timeouts. The Ramblers went on to win the set, 25-16, and claim the overall 3-1 victory.

The Ramblers totaled a season-high 16 blocks, the most in a four-set match in the Valley this season, en route to holding the Bears to a mere .058 hitting percentage.

Loyola is back in action tomorrow, taking on Wichita State in a battle for the top spot in the Missouri Valley. The Ramblers and the Shockers currently each hold a conference record of 6-1.