Boxscore (PDF) 

CHICAGO (November 17, 2017)
 
In Short
Loyola University Chicago (5-23, 4-13 MVC) hit .317 on the night and Gabi Maciagowski and Elle Van Grinsven each recorded double-digits kills to spark the surging Ramblers to a 25-17, 25-20, 25-23 victory over Southern Illinois (6-22, 5-12 MVC) tonight at Gentile Arena. The Ramblers have won four of their last six matches and earned their second straight regular-season series sweep of the Salukis.
 
How It Happened
Loyola used a 3-1 run to break a 15-15 tie and seize an 18-16 lead it would never surrender in set one. After an Abby Barrow kill chopped the Ramblers' lead down to a single point, Van Grinsven tallied the first of her three kills in a set-closing 7-0 run, for a 25-17 victory.
 
In the second set, Maciagowski recorded three consecutive kills as part of a game-changing 5-0 surge that allowed Loyola to expand its lead from a single point to 14-8. Later in the set, back-to-back kills from Haley Hoffman stretched the Ramblers' lead to 21-14, their largest of the set, before Southern Illinois mounted a fierce comeback, scoring six of the next seven points to close within 22-20. But, Maciagowski stepped up and delivered a huge momentum-swinging kill and Maddy Moser followed with a service ace before a Saluki error closed out Loyola's 25-20 win.
 
Southern Illinois sprinted out to a 4-1 lead at the outset of the third set, but the maturing Ramblers countered with an 8-1 run of their own to grab a 9-5 edge. That lead would swell to as many as five points on a pair of occasions, the last coming at 17-12, but SIU refused to go down without a fight and ripped off six of the next seven points to knot the score at 18.
 
Consecutive Saluki hitting errors put the Ramblers back on top by a pair, but SIU chipped away and tied things up again at 23 on an Alayna Martin service ace. Yet again, Maciagowski delivered in crunch time, tallying a kill to give Loyola the lead for the final time in a 25-23 victory that gave the Maroon and Gold its second straight sweep.
 
A Look At The Numbers

• Loyola's .317 hitting percentage is its second-best mark of the season and highest since connecting at a .359 clip in a victory over Samford on September 3.
• Maciagowski tallied a match-high 12 kills, running her streak of consecutive matches with double-digit stops to four.
• Van Grinsven continues to produce in Valley play, and totaled 10 kills and three aces, while hitting .474 (10-1-19) on the night.
• Quinn Spieker chipped in nine kills for the Ramblers.

 
Up Next
Loyola closes out the 2017 season tomorrow night when No. 25 Missouri State visits Gentile Arena for a 7 p.m. match.