Boxscore (PDF)

CHICAGO (September 15, 2018)
 
In Short
Quinn Spieker and Elle Van Grinsven tallied double-digit kills but it wasn't enough as Loyola University Chicago (8-3) went cold in the final two sets of a 25-17, 23-25, 16-25, 17-25 loss to UIC (6-6) this afternoon in a Chicago Cup contest at Gentile Arena. The loss brings the Ramblers' eight-match winning streak to an end and the Flames stopped a four-game slide with the victory.
 
How It Happened
Loyola picked up where it left off last night, hitting a whopping .441 (17-2-34) and pulled away late for a 25-17 set-one victory over the Flames. The quick-starting Ramblers accounted for eight of the first nine points of the set, including each of the first four in the initial surge, before UIC closed the gap to get within three points on a pair of occasions, the final time coming at 14-11. But, three straight kills, courtesy of Heather Kocken, Gabi Maciagowski and Spieker, extended the Ramblers' lead to 17-11 and UIC would get no closer than five the remainder of the way.
 
Despite out-hitting UIC in the second set (.304 to .279), Loyola dropped a 25-23 decision that evened the match at a set apiece. Van Grinsven helped spark a rally, recording three kills and a block assist in a 6-1 Ramblers run that wiped out a three-point deficit and gave the hosts a 10-8 advantage. That lead would later stand at 12-10 before the Flames assembled a 10-4 spurt that put the Ramblers in a 20-16 hole. Loyola rallied back however, eventually shrinking the gap to 24-23 on a Spieker kill, but a kill from Tatyana Ndekwe closed out a UIC victory.
 
Nothing seemed to go the Ramblers way in set three as UIC got off to a 6-1 lead and never looked back on the way to a 25-16 win.  Loyola couldn't get on track offensively, hitting .000 (9-9-33).
 
A pair of Loyola hitting errors and four kills were part of a decisive stretch of six unanswered points that turned a one-point Ramblers edge into a 14-9 deficit in the fourth set. A kill from Kocken got Loyola within three, at 16-13, but three straight UIC stops ran the Flames' lead back to six as they dealt the Ramblers their first home loss in five matches this season.
 
A Look At The Numbers

• Spieker pounded a team-best 15 kills and added seven digs, while hitting at a .355 (15-4-31) clip, to pace the Ramblers' attack. 
• Van Grinsven continued her impressive play of late, cracking 14 kills and adding three blocks, while Kocken pitched in nine kills and three blocks.
• Manuela Conte posted a team highs of 13 kills and 15 digs to lead UIC.

 
Up Next
Loyola wraps up play at the Chicago Cup when it hosts Northwestern tonight at 7 p.m.