EVANSVILLE, Ind. (October 30, 2021)
 
In Short
Taylor Venuto drilled a career-high 21 kills and added 10 blocks to lead Loyola University Chicago (18-6, 11-1 MVC) to a come-from-behind, 25-23, 21-25, 25-27, 25-18, 15-12 victory over Evansville (16-6, 6-5 MVC) this afternoon at Meeks Family Fieldhouse for its fifth straight victory and 11^th in the last 12 outings.
 
How It Happened
Taylor Venuto helped the Ramblers get off to a great start, totaling three kills and a block as Loyola scored seven of the first 10 points of set one. Loyola was unable to maintain the lead, which grew to as many as five points, with Evansville utilizing a 9-2 run to grab a 19-17 advantage. With the score knotted at 21-21, back-to-back kills from Emily Banitt and Sarah Murczek put the Ramblers ahead to stay on the way to a 25-23 win.
 
Evansville hit .423 (14-3-26) in a 25-21 victory in set two to even up the match and took advantage of a 10-4 run to open up a 21-15 lead and hold off a late Rambler rally. Loyola trailed by six (22-16), until Venuto smashed a kill and followed with consecutive aces to bring her squad within three points and force a Purple Aces timeout. The Ramblers closed the gap to 23-21, but back-to-back errors squelched Loyola's hopes for another comeback win.
 
Loyola worked its way back from a seven-point deficit (14-7) to tie the score at 24-24, but was unable to pull out the set three win, falling, 27-25. The Ramblers trailed 23-20 and got kills from Venuto and Karlie McNabb, along with a Venuto/Banitt block, to tie the score at 24-24. The teams then exchanged points prior to Giulia Cardona and Melanie Feliciano placing kills on the Ramblers' side of the net to finish off the victory.
 
Venuto delivered four kills and three block assists as Loyola sent the match to the distance with a 25-18 set-four win. Midway through the set, Jenna Appel served up a pair of aces and Venuto had a hand in a pair of blocks during a decisive 5-0 Loyola run that put the Ramblers ahead to stay.
 
Loyola seized control of the fifth set with four unanswered tallies, the last coming on an ace by Murczek, for a 6-3 lead it would never relinquish on the way to a 15-12 victory. Evansville got within a point, at 9-8, but a kill from Kelsey Watson and a Venuto/McNabb block bumped the lead back to three and gave the Ramblers some breathing room. The Aces got within two points on four more occasions, but Loyola had an answer each time, and Watson's seventh kill of the match finished off the Ramblers' 15-12 victory.
 
A Look at the Numbers

• Venuto's 21 kills surpassed her previous career best of 20 set against Missouri State on March 7, 2021. The junior middle hitter, who had two aces today, did not have an error in the match, hitting a scalding .636 (21-0-33), while also reaching double-digit blocks for the second time this season.
• Barnes whacked 15 kills, extending her streak with 10 or more kills to eight matches and McNabb added 13 kills to close out the Ramblers' trio that reached double figures.
• Grace Hinchman provided a team-high 11 digs and Murczek added 10 digs and two aces off the bench.
• Loyola hit .306 (65-21-144) for the match and improved to 16-0 this season when winning the first set of a match.
• Melanie Feliciano recorded 19 kills and 11 digs to lead Evansville, which dropped its second match in as many days.

 
Up Next
Loyola closes out a busy stretch Monday nigbt (Nov. 1) when gets its first look at Drake this season. First serve is slated for 6 p.m. at Gentile Arena.