CHICAGO (November 13, 2021)
 
In Short
Behind 12 kills from Addie Barnes and 11 from Emily Banitt, Loyola University Chicago (20-8, 13-3 MVC) clinched at least a share of the Missouri Valley Conference regular season title with a come-from-behind, 26-28, 25-23, 25-18, 25-18 victory over Illinois State (16-13, 12-5 MVC) tonight at Gentile Arena. With the win, the Ramblers snapped a 12-match losing skid to the Redbirds and thanks to Bradley's loss at Valparaiso, claimed their first regular season conference crown since capturing the 2002 Horizon League championship.
 
How It Happened
Loyola opened the first set by turning away Redbird attacks on consecutive points to kick start a 13-7 run that seemingly put the Ramblers in control. However, Illinois State chipped away at the deficit, eventually knotting things up at 20-20 before tallying the final two points of the set for a 28-26 victory. 
 
The Ramblers were reeling from that gut punch in the first set and fell behind, 6-1 in set two before righting the ship and completely changing the momentum and course of the match. Anna Feldkamp, cracked five kills in the second set and helped the Ramblers whittle down the deficit and they finally drew even at 16-16 on a Nicole Lund hitting error. With the score tied at 22-22, Sarah Murczek accounted for each of Loyola's final three kills for a heart-stopping, 25-23 win.
 
With Loyola trailing, 5-4, in set three, Feldkamp drilled a kill, then teamed up with Taylor Venuto on consecutive blocks ISU attacks to put the hosts ahead for good. Following an ISU timeout, the Redbirds climbed within a point (7-6) until a Jenna Appel kill ignited a 7-2 run that was punctuated with a Venuto ace, to expand the advantage to 14-8. From there, ISU never got closer than five points as Loyola secured a 25-18 decision to take the lead in the match, hitting a white-hot .538 (15-1-26) in the set.
 
A quick start to set four featured two kills, an ace and an assisted block from Barnes that put Loyola in the driver's seat, and ahead 10-3 from the outset. The Ramblers were never threatened in the set and led by as many as eight points on six occasions in picking up another 25-18 victory to claim the match, touching off an emotional on-court celebration of the program's first Valley title.
 
A Look at the Numbers

• Barnes picked up her 10^th double-double of the season by providing 12 kills and 12 digs, while adding three blocks, to lead the Ramblers' attack. She shook off a slow start and over the final two sets hit .538 (8-1-13).
• Emily Banitt also swatted double-digit kills, finishing with 11, while hitting at a .435 (11-1-23) clip.
• Feldkamp had arguably her best match of the fall, going for nine kills, seven blocks and four digs and Jenna Appel doled out 19 assists and added 11 digs.
• Tamara Otene led Illinois State with 27 kills.
• Tonight's win was just the Ramblers' third this season when dropping the opening set.
• With the victory, Loyola recorded its third 20-win season since 2005, but two of those 20-win campaigns have come in the last three years under the direction of fourth-year head coach Amanda Berkley.

 
Up Next
Loyola heads to Drake next Friday (Nov. 19) for a 6 p.m. match. With a victory, the Ramblers would win the MVC regular season championship outright.