Boxscore 

CHICAGO (September 5, 2019)
 
In Short
Three Ramblers totaled double-digit kills, led by freshman Addie Barnes' match-high 16 stops, but Stephen F. Austin (4-0) proved too much as Loyola University Chicago (1-3) put up a valiant effort, but fell short in a 25-20, 16-25, 23-25, 20-25 decision tonight at Gentile Arena. 
 
How It Happened
Playing its 2019 season home opener, Loyola was energized from the first serve, scoring the first five points, including a pair of kills each from Heather Kocken and Taylor Venuto, as part of a 10-3 match-opening burst. Stephen F. Austin, which went 32-3 and reached the NCAA tournament a year ago, chipped away at the Ramblers' lead, using a 6-1 run to get within 23-20, but back-to-back kills from Quinn Spieker and Barnes finished off a 25-20 Ramblers victory.
 
The Ladyjacks turned the tables on the Ramblers in second set, racing to a 12-5 lead to take control of the set. Trailing 19-10, Loyola made things interesting by reeling off five unanswered points to cut the gap to 19-15, but SFA countered with four consecutive tallies of its own to bump the lead back to eight points on the way to a 25-16 decision.
 
Neither team was able to gain much separation whatsoever in set three, with the largest lead being three points in the very early going. A kill and an ensuing ace from Spieker broke a 19-19 stalemate and moved Loyola on top by a pair of scores (21-19), until the Ladyjacks dialed up four straight points of their own to reclaim the lead, at 23-21. When Kocken hammered home a kill to slice a two-point deficit to 24-23, the Ramblers had visions of a comeback, but a Loyola service error extinguished the rally and gave SFA a 25-23 victory.
 
Loyola rallied back from a four-point hole early in the fourth set and found itself knotted up at 14 midway through the set. However, the Ramblers then saw an experienced SFA squad rip off eight of the next nine points to open up a 22-15 lead and the Ladyjacks never looked back en route to a 25-20 win.
 
A Look At The Numbers

• Barnes was impressive in her Gentile Arena debut, mustering a match-high 16 kills to go with 12 digs, for her second double-double of the young season, while Spieker was solid again, posting 14 kills and 17 digs.
• Venuto, another one of the impressive crop of freshmen, performed admirably, notching 10 kills and a pair of blocks, and rookie setter Katie Mather dished out 43 assists.
• Maddy Moser registered a match-high 28 digs for Loyola and has now totaled 20 or more digs in each of the team's first four outings of the season.
• Xariah Williams produced a team-best 11 kills for Stephen F. Austin, which recorded 13 blocks on the evening.

 
Up Next
Loyola gets right back to work tomorrow at noon when it hosts Loyola Maryland at the Hampton Inn Rambler Challenge in Gentile Arena.