Boxscore 

CHICAGO (September 6, 2019)
 
In Short
Senior Quinn Spieker and freshman Addie Barnes accounted for nearly 60 percent of Loyola University Chicago's (3-3) kills on the night as the Ramblers earned a 28-26, 25-20, 25-21 victory over Montana State (1-4) tonight in the final match of the day in the Hampton Inn Rambler Challenge at Gentile Arena. The Ramblers have won their last two outings.
 
How It Happened
The Ramblers and Bobcats were evenly matched, with neither team holding a lead of more than two points at any time in the opening set. Montana State was able to stave off set point on three occasions until a Spieker kill put the Ramblers ahead to stay, at 27-26, and a Bobcats attack error capped Loyola's 28-26 victory. Loyola turned in one of its best offensive showings of the young season in the opening set, hitting at a .410 (19-3-39) efficiency.
 
Three more kills from Spieker highlighted an 11-7 Loyola run to open the proceedings in set two. That advantage would balloon to 15-8 shortly thereafter thanks in large part to Taylor Venuto, who had a hand in three blocks during a 4-1 burst, but the Ramblers' lead would prove to be unsafe, with Montana State staging a rally to get within 19-18. Spieker and Venuto slowed the Bobcats' momentum however with consecutive kills that extended Loyola's cushion to 21-18 and it never looked back, headed for a 25-20 decision.
 
Loyola tried to leave no doubt about the outcome of the third set by racing out to a 6-0 lead, thanks to two kills from Heather Kocken as well as a pair of stops and an ace from Spieker. Montana State worked its way back from a seven-point gap (13-6), slicing the Ramblers' edge down to 16-13, but Barnes allowed Loyola to regain control of the set by serving six consecutive points as the hosts padded their lead to 22-13. MSU had one final surge left, tallying a half-dozen unanswered points of their own to get within 23-21, however, kills from Spieker and Venuto finished off any thoughts of a Bobocats comeback.
 
A Look At The Numbers

• Spieker was impressive, hitting at a .389 (18-4-36) clip, while delivering 18 kills, 11 digs and a pair of aces, while Barnes continues to show signs of her enormous potential, racking up 11 kills, 13 digs and three aces.
• Loyola hit .294 on the match and received eight kills from Venuto and seven from Kocken in the victory.
• Hannah Scott accounted for a team-best 11 kills for Montana State, which was limited to a .137 hitting percentage.

 
Up Next
Play at the Hampton Inn Rambler Challenge concludes tomorrow as Loyola hosts Western Michigan at 2 p.m. for the tournament title.