Loyola vs. Milwaukee Boxscore (PDF) 

CHICAGO (September 1, 2017)
 
In Short
Morgan Gresham tallied a team-high 13 kills and both Maddy Moser and Alex Nunez notched double-doubles, but Loyola University Chicago dropped its home opener, falling to Fairfield (3-2), 25-17, 23-25, 17-25, 22-25 today in a Rambler Challenge match at Gentile Arena. The loss drops the Ramblers to 0-4 on the season.
 
How It Happened
Loyola snapped an 8-all tie by running off nine unanswered points, four of which came courtesy of Gresham kills, to open up a commanding 17-8 lead it would never relinquish. The balanced and efficient Ramblers got off to a fast start as six players tallied two or more kills in the opening set, and as a team they hit .279 (18-6-43).
 
Set two was a back-and-forth battle with neither team holding a lead of more than three points. Loyola got off to a slow start as Fairfield recorded the first three points, but the Ramblers stormed right back with five consecutive scores of their own to seize a 5-3 lead.  Late in the set, the Stags snapped a 22-22 tie with back-to-back points, forcing Loyola to burn a timeout. But, after an Olivia Whittingham kill cut the deficit in half, Kaylie Butts slammed home a kill to give Fairfield a 25-23 victory and knot the match at a set apiece.
 
Loyola couldn't get on track offensively in set three, hitting just -.073, and found itself in a 9-3 hole before charging back with an 11-5 run, culminated by a Haley Hoffman kill, to tie the score at 14. However, the Stags broke free with three straight points to turn a 16-16 tie into a 19-16 edge and never looked back en route to a 25-17 win.
 
Once again, the Ramblers were victims of a sluggish start in set four before showing their resolve and rallying back to make things interesting. With Fairfield seemingly in control with a 10-3 lead, Loyola mounted an impressive comeback, going on a 10-3 run of its own to deadlock the teams at 13. After the Stags ran off four unanswered points to take a 17-13 advantage, Loyola cut the lead in half, getting within 19-17 on a block by Whittingham and Elle Van Grinsven, it but would get no closer than two points the remainder of the way.
 
A Look At The Numbers

• Gresham's 13 kills were a career high, snapping her previous best of 10 against New Hampshire in the 2015 season opener.
• Moser pitched in 17 digs and 16 assists, while Nunez added a career-best 19 digs to go with 12 assists.
• Quinn Spieker fell one kill shy of a double-double with nine kills and 15 digs.
• Mayda Garcia led Fairfield with 18 kills.

 
Up Next
Loyola will host Milwaukee at 5 p.m. tomorrow in day two of the Rambler Challenge.