Final Stats

CHICAGO, Ill. - The Loyola University Chicago volleyball team suffered its first sweep since Aug. 29 on Monday as UNI topped the Ramblers, 3-0 (14-25, 19-25, 26-24) inside Gentile Arena. With the loss, the Ramblers drop to 17-5 on the season and 6-3 in Missouri Valley Conference play, while the Panthers improve to 11-11 overall and 6-3 in the conference.

Brittany Brown led the Ramblers with 11 kills, committing just three errors en route to posting a .381 hitting clip, while Morgan Reardon added 10. The Ramblers hit just .150 against the Panthers, who currently rank second in the nation in digs per set.

After trading points to begin set one, UNI rallied to score eight of the next ten and take a 12-5 lead, forcing Loyola to use both timeouts during the stretch. Despite kills from Brown, Maureen Carls and Gabi Maciagowski, the Panthers were able to put together another run and up the score to 23-12. Brown then scored back-to-back points, firing a kill before combining with Sami Hansen for a block, but UNI held on to claim set one, 25-14. The Panthers outhit the Ramblers .320 to .059 in the first set, as UNI racked up 14 digs and three blocks.

The Ramblers started off set two with a pair of blocks, as Carls teamed up with Brown and Reardon to give Loyola the early lead, but the Panthers rallied to score six of the next seven points and take a 6-3 lead. The teams then battled back-and-forth, with UNI maintaining the steady lead until back-to-back kills from Reardon and Carls pulled Loyola to within one point. However, the Panthers then rallied to take a 20-14 lead, forcing Loyola to use both timeouts during the stretch. The Ramblers responded by scoring four of the next six points, including a pair of kills from Reardon and one from Brown, to cut the UNI lead to 22-18, but the Panthers held on to take the set, 25-19.

The teams traded points to begin set three until back-to-back Rambler errors gave the Panthers a 13-10 lead, forcing a Loyola timeout. After a solo block from Jackie Kocken, a three-point Rambler run, including back-to-back kills from Maciagowski and Morgan Gresham, cut the UNI lead to 15-14 and forced a Panther timeout. The teams then battled back-and-forth, with Maciagowski, Reardon and Carls scoring points for the Ramblers, until UNI scored two straight to take a 21-20 lead and force Loyola to call its second and final timeout. The Ramblers managed to tie the set at 24-24 behind kills from Brown and Gresham and a pair of Panther errors, but UNI went on to win set three, 26-24. Loyola's offense was most efficient in set three, as the Ramblers outhit the Panthers .270 to .265.

Loyola is back in action on Saturday when the Ramblers host Bradley at 4:00 p.m. inside Gentile Arena.