CHICAGO -

Final Score: Illinois State 3, Loyola 0 (25-21, 25-20, 25-15)
Records: Loyola (10-14, 5-6 MVC); Illinois State (14-9, 7-4 MVC)
Location: Gentile Arena -- Chicago, Ill.
Stats: Box Score  | Season Stats 

In Short
Illinois State hit .304 (43-12-102) as a team and Jaelyn Keene posted 11 kills to lead the visiting Redbirds to a 25-21, 25-20, 25-15 victory over Loyola University Chicago tonight at Gentile Arena. The Ramblers fall to 10-14 overall and 5-6 in the Missouri Valley Conference with the loss, while ISU improves to 14-9 overall and 7-4 in the MVC.

How It Happened
Illinois State opened up a 16-12 lead in the first set before a 7-3 Loyola run evened the score at 19. Jaelyn Keene followed with a kill as the Redbirds tallied four of the next five points to reclaim control of the set and pick up a 25-21 victory.

Three kills from Keene were part of a 4-0 run that turned a tie game into a 10-6 ISU lead in set two. A subsequent Keene error put an end to the run, but that was as close as the Ramblers would get in a set that ISU led by as many as 10 points. Loyola wouldn’t go down without a fight though and it trimmed the deficit to 23-18 on a Lauren Stefanski kill, but the Redbirds tallied two of the final four points of the set for a 25-20 win.

Illinois State scored five straight points to break at 6-6 tie and take a five-point lead in the third set but Loyola would go on to cut into the deficit to 14-11 on a Morgan Reardon kill. However, an ensuing stop by Ella Francis opened up a 3-0 spurt that stemmed the tide and pushed ISU’s lead to 17-11 as the Redbirds earned a 25-15 win.

Looking At The Numbers
- Reardon led the way for Loyola with nine kills and nine digs, to just miss out on recording her ninth double-double of the year.

- Sami Hansen added eight kills for the Ramblers, who hit just .174 as a team.

- The loss was Loyola’s second in a row at home. Prior to last night’s loss to Indiana State, the Ramblers had been 4-1 at home in Valley play this season.

Up Next
The Ramblers play their first road match since October 8 when they travel to Southern Illinois on October 28.