CHICAGO – The Ramblers dropped a five-set battle with the Rams Saturday afternoon to conclude the regular season series against VCU. Bree Borum stuffed the box score with her second triple-double of the season.
 
Borum finished with 11 kills, 41 assists, 12 digs, five blocks, and three aces. She also hit .500 in the match.
 
Loyola falls to 9-11 overall and 4-5 in A-10 play.
 
"Overall, I think it was a much better match for us today," said head coach Amanda Berkley. "I thought we served really well and were very aggressive. If you look at lot of the stats, we led in every category. We had more points, blocks, kills, assists, aces, and digs. We just have to make plays when it counts at the end of sets and when the pressure is on."
 
Marta Cvitkovic led all players with 17 kills, which was just one shy of her season-high. Ann Marie Remmes (13) and Esma Ajanovic (10) were also in double-figure kills. Remmes hit .650 to lead Loyola.
 
The Ramblers finished with 15 blocks and 13 aces, both of which were season-highs.
 
How It Happened
Set One: The Ramblers came out rolling in set one with back-to-back Remmes service aces. The Rams would only get two points on the board before Avary DeBlieck fired from the middle, sparking an 8-0 run, blowing the lead open to 12-2. The closest VCU would get was seven, but the Ramblers kept their foot on the gas posting two more 3-0 runs down the stretch. Cvitkovic had two straight aces to set up set point that came on a service error by the Rams. Loyola wins, 25-13.
 
Set Two: The Rams woke up, forcing a back and forth battle in the second set. The Ramblers forced draw after draw until Cvitkovic's kill and a VCU attack error allowed Loyola to take its first lead, 11-10. The Rams rallied following an Akire Jones kill, leading VCU to four unanswered points and a 15-12 edge. Loyola fought back to tie it 15-all and 18-all before taking another lead on a Remmes kill, 19-18. Cvitkovic kept it in Loyola's favor with another blow, but the Rams scored six of the final eight points to capture set two, 25-22.
 
Set Three: Much like the first set, Loyola's offensive onslaught came out of the first serve. Esma Ajanovic killed for the first of five straight and capped the 5-0 run with her second kill during the hot streak. The Ramblers quickly built the lead to 13-2 with another 8-2 tear. Three different Ramblers score in the run, which was capped by yet another ace, this time from Olivia Lovett. VCU couldn't get the lead down to single digits as the Ramblers ran away with a 25-14 win.
 
Set Four: The Rams flipped the script in the fourth, jumping out to a 7-1 lead over the Ramblers. Jasmine Kill had a pair of kills, while Anja Kujundzic aced for the final three points of the stretch. Loyola cut the lead down to one after Cvitkovic's kill sparked a 5-0 run for the Ramblers. Loyola would tie it three times until Julia Rienks scored the first of four straight with a kill to give VCU a 15-11 edge. The Ramblers clawed back with kills from Ajanovic, Borum, and Remmes to get within one, 20-19. Ella Ramsay even provided a spark off the bench to knot the game 22-22, but VCU remained composed to win, 25-23.
 
Set Five: Early kills from Cvitkovic and Ajanovic looked promising as Loyola took a 3-1 lead early, but VCU tied it 6-6 with a kill from Letizia Galli and Loyola attack error. It remained a close battle from then on as the teams traded points. Cvitkovic scored Loyola's final point of the match with a kill, tying it nine-all. VCU closed the match on a 5-0 run with three Rams registering kills to secure the win, 15-9.
 
Up Next
The Ramblers stay local for one more weekend. Loyola will play George Mason Oct. 25 and 26 in Gentile Arena next weekend.