CHICAGO (October 14, 2022) 
 
In Short 
The beat goes on. Behind a team-high 10 kills from Karlie McNabb, Loyola University Chicago (14-7, 8-0 A-10) extended its win streak to eight matches with a 25-23, 25-22, 25-17 victory over George Mason (5-14, 1-7 A-10) tonight at Gentile Arena. Tonight's win moves Loyola to 8-0 in Atlantic 10 Conference action, its best start in league play since opening the 2000 Midwestern Collegiate Conference campaign with eight straight wins.
 
How It Happened
McNabb almost single-handedly carried Loyola to a 25-23 victory in the opening set, smashing six kills and hitting a staggering .857 (6-0-7), while serving up four aces. With the score deadlocked at 8-8, the junior outside hitter tallied a kill then fired three straight aces to put the Ramblers on top, 12-8. That lead wouldn't hold up for long though as George Mason raced back to snag the lead. A kill from Emily Banitt gave Loyola the lead for good at 22-21 and Sarah Murczek followed with a kill to double the Ramblers' advantage in an eventual 25-23 decision.
 
George Mason sprinted out to a 7-2 lead in set two before Loyola rallied for a 25-22 win. The Ramblers put together a decisive, 14-4 run that was capped by kills from Esma Ajanovic and Kelsey Watson for a 16-11 edge. The Patriots battled back, tying things up at 17-17, but back-to-back George Mason errors put Loyola ahead for good and Kelsey Watson's second kill of the set closed out the Ramblers' victory.
 
Loyola hit .444 (14-2-27) and led wire to wire in a 25-17 win in the third set. Leading 7-5, the Ramblers spun off a trio of unanswered points, two via Patriot miscues and the final on a kill by Anna Feldkamp, that allowed Loyola to double-up George Mason, 10-5, and force a timeout. George Mason crept within two points three times down the stretch, the last coming at 17-15 on a Katelyn Clarke service ace, but the Ramblers countered by scoring eight of the final ten points of the set for the victory.
 
Inside the Numbers

• McNabb has totaled 10 or more kills in each of the last six outings and in addition to her career-high-tying four aces, she also hit at a .364 clip (10-2-22) tonight.
• Feldkamp finished with eight kills and Watson hit .417 (6-1-12) while delivering six kills and a team-best four blocks. 
• Olivia Lovett provided a spark off the bench, tallying four kills, four digs and a block, while hitting .571 (4-0-7).
• With tonight's win, the Ramblers also stayed perfect at home in 2022, running their record on their home court to 6-0.
• Mujay Mambu and Clarke produced 11 kills each to lead George Mason's attack.

 
Up Next
Loyola and George Mason play the second of a pair of weekend matches tomorrow afternoon at Gentile Arena. First serve is set for 2 p.m.