ST. LOUIS, Mo. (November 20, 2022)
 
In Short…
No. 1 seed Loyola University Chicago won the Atlantic 10 Championship Sunday with a thrilling four-set victory over No. 3 seed Dayton 25-16, 23-25, 25-15, 25-23. A-10 Player of the Year Karlie McNabb led with a career-high 21 kills (.312), along with Addie Barnes (17 kills/.316) and Taylor Venuto (12 kills/.526). Loyola will make the sixth NCAA Tournament appearance in program history, and the first under head coach Amanda Berkley.
 
How It Happened
Loyola opened with a convincing win in the opening set, hitting .448 as a team with six different players recording a kill. After McNabb gave the Ramblers a 10-8 lead, the momentum shifted heavily as Loyola used a 10-4 run and forced a pair of Dayton timeouts before taking the 1-0 match lead.
 
The second set was extremely competitive and featured 12 ties, the most on the day, and three lead changes. The teams would go back and forth with the score staying even at 21-21, until the Flyers scored three straight points for a 24-21 lead. A kill from Emily Banitt, followed by a Sarah Murczek ace, got Loyola back within a point but the Flyers held on to even the match.
 
Loyola responded nicely in Set 3 as McNabb and Barnes combined for 14 of the team's 18 kills in the stanza. The Ramblers never trailed, hitting an incredibly efficient .548, and closed out the frame with an impressive 12-5 run to grab the match lead once again.
 
Another Rambler response was needed in the final set, as Dayton controlled the action with a 15-9 lead before Loyola fought back to even the score at 17-17 on a block from Borum and Kelsey Watson. McNabb gave the Maroon & Gold the lead on the next point, but Dayton reclaimed the one-point advantage after a timeout. Borum led the final push with a kill for the lead, and after a block from Borum and Venuto created separation, the Ramblers would hold on for the win as Barnes put down the final point.
 
Looking At The Numbers

• Loyola tied its sixth-highest team hitting percentage of the season (.333)
• Dayton hit .321 overall as a team, the second-highest opponent total in a Loyola victory this season
• Both teams had six total blocks
• Borum finished with 50 assists, 14 digs, 3 kills and 4 block assists for her 17th double double. She hit the 50-assist mark for the third time this season and back-to-back matches in the A-10 Championship
• McNabb reached a new career high in kills for the second straight outing, posting back-to-back 20-kill performances in A-10 Championship to surpass the 300 kills mark this season
• Barnes recorded a season-high 17 kills for the third time this season
• Venuto reached the 200 kills mark on the season, and logged her fifth consecutive match with 10 or more kills

Up Next
Loyola will wait to learn its NCAA Tournament First Round matchup during the selection show on Sunday, Nov. 27, which airs at 6:30 p.m. CT on ESPNU.