Loyola vs. Seattle Boxscore (pdf)

BERKELEY, Calif. (August 25, 2017) -
 
In Short
Gabi Maciagowski slammed a team-high 12 kills, but it wasn't enough as Loyola University Chicago dropped its 2017 season opener, falling to Seattle, 18-25, 25-12, 14-25, 22-25 on the first night of play at the Cal Molten Classic hosted by the University of California. The Ramblers fall to 0-1 with the loss, while the Redhawks improve to 1-0.
 
How It Happened
Seattle reeled off four unanswered points, half of them coming via Victoria Demmene kills, to break a 6-6 tie and grab a 10-6 lead that would grow to as many as five points (16-11). Morgan Gresham breathed some life back into the Maroon and Gold, tallying a pair of stops as part of a 6-3 run that brought the Ramblers within two points, at 19-17, but the Redhawks finished off the set by recording six of the final seven points for a 25-18 victory.
 
Loyola came out on fire in the second set and put the game out of reach early thanks to an 8-1 run that snapped a tie and moved the Ramblers ahead, 12-5. Gresham pitched in two more kills during that spurt, while Delilah Wolf, who was seeing her first action since injuring her knee last November, served a pair of aces in that game-changing surge. Seattle tried to get back into the contest and closed within 17-10, but Maciagowski capped a 5-0 Loyola run with consecutive kills to put seal the outcome in a 25-12 victory.
 
The Ramblers went cold in the third set however, hitting -.033 (6-7-30) as Seattle coasted to a 25-14 win. Loyola tried late to recover from a slow start that put it in a 13-4 hole, using kills from Quinn Spieker, Maciagowski and freshman Elle Van Grinsven, along with an Alex Nunez ace, to slice an eight-point deficit to 17-13. But, four straight Redhawk points slowed the Ramblers' momentum and gave Seattle the lead in the match once again.
 
In the fourth set, Loyola jumped out to an early 8-5 advantage, but was unable to maintain that edge as Seattle rattled off six straight points to commence a 10-1 run that put the Redhawks in control. Trailing 15-10, the Ramblers got back into the contest thanks to a block from Olivia Whittingham and Van Grinsven coupled with consecutive Redhawk errors that forced Seattle to burn a timeout as Loyola got within 15-13. But, that was as close as the Ramblers would get as Seattle held off the Loyola rally in a 25-22 decision.
 
Looking At The Numbers

• Maciagowski blasted a team-high 12 kills to lead a Loyola offense that never was able to get on track this evening (.131 hitting percentage).
• Van Grinsven was impressive in her collegiate debut, notching nine kills, while hitting .571 (9-1-14), with two blocks.
• Gresham, who tallied only three kills in 2016, ripped seven this evening, while pitching in 10 digs and a pair of aces.

 
Up Next
Loyola closes out play at the Cal Molten Classic tomorrow with matches versus California (12 p.m.) at UC Irvine (7 p.m.).