EVANSTON, Ill. (September 18, 2021)
 
In Short
Taylor Venuto totaled eight kills and 12 blocks to help power Loyola University Chicago (7-4) to a 25-18, 25-20, 25-21 victory over UIC (4-7) this morning at Welsh-Ryan Arena in the first match on the second day of play at the Chicago Cup. Venuto's 12 blocks tie for the fourth-highest single-match total in Loyola women's volleyball history and with the win, Loyola halted a brief two-match losing skid.
 
How It Happened
Loyola scored four unanswered points during a 9-1 run that turned a one-point UIC advantage into a 14-7 Ramblers lead. A pair of kills from Venuto, who also had a hand in two blocks during that decisive stretch, fueled Loyola's run. The Ramblers' lead stood at 21-14 when UIC put together its final push, tallying four straight points to close within 21-18, but Venuto delivered a block and a kill and Emily Banitt smashed consecutive kills to close out Loyola's 25-18 win. The Ramblers, who benefitted from four kills and five blocks from Venuto in the opener, hit .414 (14-2-29) as a team.
 
Karlie McNabb keyed a game-changing 7-1 Loyola run that sent the Ramblers to a come-from-behind 25-20 victory in set two. Loyola trailed by as many as four points early and was down 19-18, when McNabb racked up her squad's next three kills to ignite the aforementioned set-closing 7-1 spurt. The sophomore outside hitter ripped five kills in the set.
 
Banitt had a hand in four consecutive Rambler points early in the third set, as Loyola broke an 8-8 tie and opened up a 12-8 advantage it would never relinquish in a 25-21 victory. UIC cut the deficit to a single point, but a Kelsey Watson block punctuated a string of three straight Loyola tallies that pushed the lead back to four, at 18-14. 
 
A Look at the Numbers

• McNabb clubbed a team-high 10 kills to lead a hot-hitting Loyola attack that posted a .352 (43-11-91) hitting percentage for the match.
• Addie Barnes pitched in nine kills, including the final two of the third set, as well as 14 digs, and Banitt provided eight kills.
• Martina Delucchi led the Flames with a match-high 15 kills.

 
Up Next
Loyola faces Northwestern tonight at 8 p.m. in the final contest of the Chicago Cup. The last time the teams matched up, at the Chicago Cup in 2019, the Ramblers won a five-set thriller.