CHICAGO (September 29, 2021) - Loyola opens up a four-match homestand, its longest of the season, when it welcomes Evansville to Gentile Arena Friday night. That contest against the Purple Aces will be the Ramblers' first on their home floor since September 4 when they took down Xavier in five sets. For the third time in the last four years, Loyola is off to a 2-0 start in Missouri Valley Conference play. The last time the Ramblers started league play with three straight wins was 2019, when they opened with a 6-0 Valley mark.

Last spring, the Ramblers notched an 8-8 record in Valley action, and they have collected eight or more league victories in each of the last three seasons. Prior to this current stretch, Loyola had not recorded eight or more conference wins, regardless of league affiliation, in three straight seasons since doing so 12 years in a row from 1994 through 2005.

Thanks to last Friday's four-set win at Missouri State, Loyola is now 4-0 under head coach Amanda Berkley in MVC openers. The last time the Ramblers won four consecutive conference lid-lifters was 1999 through 2002 when they were a member of the Horizon League, which was also known as the Midwestern Collegiate Conference during a portion of that stretch.

Dating back to 2019, Loyola has won 10 of its last 12 matches played in Gentile Arena, where it is an unblemished 3-0 this season. The Ramblers played their home contests during the 2020-21 campaign at The Alfie Norville Practice Facility.

Junior outside hitter Addie Barnes, who was named MVC Player of the Week on Monday, averaged 5.25 kills and 2.38 digs per set, while hitting .393 (42-9-84), in road victories versus Missouri State and Southern Illinois last weekend. The 5-foot-11 Wisconsin native clubbed a career-best 25 kills, the most by a Rambler since Morgan Reardon (32 at Drake on Sept. 17, 2014), in Loyola's four-set decision over Southern Illinois on September 25.

Indiana State assistant coach Katie Adams is the niece of Loyola head coach Amanda Berkley. Berkley's sister, Susie Johnson, is the head women's volleyball coach at Milwaukee. 

Loyola is 10-6 (.625) in the month of October under fourth-year head coach Amanda Berkley. 

In three matches at Gentile Arena this season, junior outside hitter Sarah Murczek is recording 2.75 kills and 2.92 digs per set. Murczek, a biophysics major, put up 2.71 kills and 3.00 digs per set in two contests at Indiana State last season and went for 14 kills, 17 digs and a pair of service aces in a four-set victory versus the Sycamores on February 21.

Scouting Evansville

Evansville won its first seven outings of the season and rolls into the Windy City with a 10-2 overall mark, although it is coming off a 3-0 loss to Indiana State in the Missouri Valley Conference opener for both teams. The Purple Aces are led by senior outside hitter Alondra Vazquez, a Preseason All-MVC pick, who is posting 4.71 kills and 3.24 digs per set, and hitting at an incredibly efficient .335 rate (179-35-430). Loyola has emerged victorious in 10 of the last 12 meetings between the teams, although Evansville prevailed when the teams last hooked up in February at The Alfie Norville Practice Facility. The Ramblers are 12-4 all time against the Purple Aces when playing in Rogers Park.

Scouting Indiana State

The Sycamores enter the weekend as the hottest team in The Valley, winners of their last eight contests, including a three-set sweep of Evansville in the league opener last Friday. Head coach Lindsay Allman's crew, which paces the MVC in hitting percentage (.254), features a balanced attack led by sophomore outside hitter Karinna Gall, who provides 2.79 kills and 2.72 digs per set, while hitting .294 (120-18-347). Senior middle blocker Madeline Williams hits .291 (82-20-213) and averages 1.91 kills and a team-best 0.98 blocks per set. The Ramblers have claimed five of the last six matchups between the teams and have won each of the last two meetings at Gentile Arena.

Up Next

Loyola continues a four-match homestand Monday (Oct. 4) when it welcomes Northern Iowa to Gentile Arena. First serve in set for 6 p.m. CT.