Final Stats

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - After defeating host Bowling Green earlier on Saturday, the Loyola University Chicago volleyball team closed out the Hampton Inn Invitational with a three-set sweep (25-19, 25-11, 25-23) of Wright State, ending the weekend with a perfect 3-0 record. Amanda Cushen led the Ramblers with a match-high 11 kills, while Brittany Brown added nine.

The teams battled back-and-forth to open set one until Cushen fired back-to-back kills, followed by a double block from Gabi Maciagowski and Sami Hansen, to give Loyola a 10-7 lead and force a Wright State timeout. The Raiders then rallied to tie the set at 18-18, but a Wright State error and a double stuff from Hansen and Morgan Reardon gave the Ramblers the lead once again, forcing the Raiders to use their second and final timeout. The Ramblers then carried the momentum out of the timeout, scoring five of the last six points behind a pair of Raider errors, a block from Hansen and Maciagowski and back-to-back Reardon kills to claim set one, 25-19.

After trading points to begin set two, a Raider error and back-to-back kills from Cushen and Brown gave Loyola an 8-4 lead, forcing Wright State to use a timeout. The Ramblers then scored five of the next seven points, led by kills from Cushen and Brown and a double stuff from Hansen and Maciagowski, to up the lead to 13-6 and force the Raiders to call their second and final timeout. Loyola continued to build on the lead, increasing the lead to 10 points before back-to-back service aces from Caroline Holt made the score 21-9 in favor of the Ramblers. Loyola then went on to claim the set, 25-11, behind kills from Cushen and Brown and a block from Haley Hoffman and Cushen to take an overall 2-0 lead.

Loyola fell behind 8-3 to begin set three before kills from Cushen, Jackie Kocken, and Brown cut the Raider lead to 9-7. The Ramblers then rallied behind kills from Cushen, Kocken, Brown, Maddy Moser and Maureen Carls to tie the set at 14-14, forcing Wright State to use a timeout. After trading points, the Ramblers took the lead behind a Kocken kill and a double stuff from Maciagowski and Carls, making the score 20-19. Loyola was then able to fend off Wright State, winning set three 25-23 to claim the sweep and improve to a perfect 3-0 on the weekend.

The Ramblers were perfect at the Hampton Inn Invitational, winning all three games against IPFW, Bowling Green and Wright State to improve to 4-2 on the season. Maureen Carls was named tournament MVP, while Amanda Cushen joined her on the All-Tournament team.