CHICAGO -

Final Score: Loyola 3, Evansville 0 (25-16, 25-16, 25-18)
Records: Loyola (7-9, 2-1 MVC); Evansville (4-13, 0-4 MVC)
Location: Gentile Arena -- Chicago, Ill.
Stats: Box Score  | Season Stats 

In Short
Sami Hansen produced team highs of 11 kills and seven blocks and Morgan Reardon added 10 kills to lead Loyola University Chicago to a 25-16, 25-16, 25-18 victory over Evansville at Gentile Arena tonight in the Ramblers’ Missouri Valley Conference home opener. The win is Loyola’s second in a row and first three-set sweep of the 2016 campaign.

How It Happened
Loyola hit a sizzling .458 (13-2-24) in the opening set and used a 7-1 run that featured two kills and a pair of blocks from Hansen to turn a one-point lead into an 18-11 advantage. From there, the Ramblers never let Evansville get closer than five points en route to a 25-16 victory.

In set two, the Ramblers sprinted out to an early 6-2 lead and held a 14-10 edge midway through the set. However, a kill by Mildrelis Rodriguez and three consecutive hitting errors by Loyola drew the Purple Aces within a point, at 14-13. However, a Reardon kill opened up a stretch in which Loyola rattled off eight unanswered points to regain command of the set as it coasted to a 25-16 victory.

After hitting just .091 in the second set, Loyola’s offensive attack returned to its set-one level as it hit at a .407 clip (15-4-27) in the third set. Much like the second set, Loyola jumped out to an early lead, claiming an 8-2 advantage at the outset. Evansville fought back and got within 12-11, but an Amanda Cushen’s kill squelched the Purple Aces’ rally and kicked off an 8-2 Rambler run that extended the LU lead to 20-13.

Looking At The Numbers
- Thirteen Ramblers saw action in tonight’s contest.
- Reardon has now reached double figures in kills in seven straight matches and 12 of the last 13 outings.
- With 10 kills this evening, Reardon moved her career total to 1,200 and she needs six more kills to tie Sarah Poglits (1998-2001) for seventh on the Ramblers’ career chart.
- The Ramblers hit .274 (41-15-95) for the match, which surpasses their previous season-high mark of .265 (54-19-132) set at Butler on September 16.
- Loyola improved to 22-6 all-time versus Evansville and has now posted three straight victories against the Purple Aces.

Coach Muscat Said
“There were times tonight where we really earned our points and challenged them to do that. We were able to work on some things that we wanted to get better at and to our girls’ credit, we never got away from that. I was really pleased that we were able to take care of business from start to finish tonight but we know we are in for a battle against Southern Illinois tomorrow.”

Up Next
Loyola has a quick turnaround as it hosts Southern Illinois tomorrow night at 7 p.m. at Gentile Arena to close out a brief weekend homestand.