Final Stats

VALPARAISO, Ind. -- The Loyola University Chicago volleyball team swept Savannah State (25-7, 25-12, 25-21) to capture its second win of the day at the Valparaiso Popcorn Classic. Amanda Cushen led the Ramblers with eight kills, while Caroline Holt fired a career-high four aces. Jackie Kocken led the Ramblers defensively, contributing to six of the team's nine total blocks. With the win, the Ramblers improve to 6-2 on the season and are off to the best start since 2008, when the team won its first eight games of the year.

The Ramblers raced out to a 5-0 lead to open set one behind kills from Brittany Brown and Gresham, along with a double block from Kocken and Gresham. The Ramblers continued to build on the lead, upping the score to 9-2 after a Maddy Moser service ace and back-to-back kills from Gresham and Kocken. Loyola then increased the lead to 16-5 after Cushen fired three kills and Haley Hoffman added one, forcing Savannah State to use a timeout. A trio of underclassman led Loyola out of the timeout, as Hoffman, Gresham and Cushen each fired kills before Gresham and Hoffman combined for a block, pushing the Rambler lead to 23-6. A pair of kills from Brown then ended set one, 25-7, to give Loyola the overall 1-0 lead. The Ramblers racked up a .609 hitting percentage during the set while holding the Tigers to a mere -.143.

The two teams traded points to begin set two until Loyola scored six straight, including kills from Gabi Maciagowski and Cushen, a Holt service ace and a double stuff from Brown and Hoffman, to take an 11-5 lead and force a Savannah State timeout. The Ramblers continued to pull away, eventually upping the score to 23-10 after a pair of blocks from Kocken to force the Tigers to use their final timeout. A Maciagowski kill and a Tiger error gave Loyola its final points of the set, ending it at 25-12.

After trading points to begin set three, Loyola rallied to score five of the next six behind three kills from Maciagowski and a pair of service aces from Stephanie Kinane and Holt to take a 10-7 lead. The Ramblers maintained the steady lead behind kills from Hoffman, Brown, Kocken and Cushen, as well as a Gresham service ace, before a string of Tiger errors upped the Loyola lead to 22-17, forcing a Savannah State timeout. The Ramblers held on to win the set, 25-21, and claim the three-set sweep.

Loyola continues action at the Valparaiso Popcorn Classic on Saturday, beginning with a match against Kennesaw State at 2: 00 p.m. CT. The Ramblers will then take on host Valparaiso at 7:00 p.m. CT, with the match set to air live on ESPN3.