DAYTON, Ohio – No. 3 Loyola Chicago won its 11^th straight with a 3-1 win over No. 2 VCU in the Atlantic 10 semifinals Saturday afternoon. The Ramblers advance to the championship match to take on the Flyers for the third consecutive year. Dayton enters the match ranked No. 18 in the country.
 
Loyola beat Dayton in 2022 for the A-10 title, while the Flyers came away with the championship last year.
 
"I'm really proud of the team for their toughness and fight today," said head coach Amanda Berkley. "I thought Esma really turned it out, and Bree did a great job of feeding her and the middles today. Sam also did a great job digging hard driven balls. It was cool to see the team compete and battle for every point.  I'm excited for the challenge ahead tomorrow against Dayton."
 
Bree Borum recorded her 20^th double-double of the season with 42 assists and 16 digs. She added five kills, three aces, and two blocks.
 
Three Ramblers finished with double-figure kills. Ann Marie Remmes tied her career-high 14 kills, while Esma Ajanovic recorded 13 and Avary DeBlieck 10. Ajanovic finished with four block assists, and Remmes had five total blocks on the night.
 
Marta Cvitkovic tallied nine kills and three aces, while Sam Falk had a team-high 20 digs.
 
How It Happened
Set One: VCU came out hot to start the match, jumping ahead, 7-2. Julia Rienks sparked the hot streak that saw five different Rams tally a point. The lead grew to double-figures with a 3-0 VCU run. Back-to-back Loyola attack errors put the Rams up, 19-9. DeBlieck and Ajanovic helped put four unanswered points up on the board, cutting the lead down to six, but the teams traded points to close the set. VCU came away with the win, 25-18.
 
Set Two: Falk served an early ace to give the Ramblers their first lead of the day at 4-3 in the second set, but the Rams pulled away on a 5-1 run. Four different Rams had a kill in the stretch for an 8-5 edge. They remained in control until Remmes sparked a 5-0 run with a kill to tie the set 17-all. Cvitkovic then had back-to-back kills to regain a lead, 21-20. The Rams tied it three more times before taking their final lead, 24-23. Ajanovic and Remmes recorded kills in the final three points, and the Ramblers evened the match, 26-24.
 
Set Three: Remmes had the first kill of the third before VCU pulled ahead, 4-1. Loyola battled back to tie the set, 7-7. Ajanovic delivered two straight kills while Falk's ace knotted the set. The Rams built another five-point advantage with three straight kills from Jasmine Knite and Alicja Jaryszek, 17-12. The Ramblers rallied on an 8-1 run. Ajanovic had two kills early, while Falk recorded another ace for the 20-18 lead. Ajanovic followed up with two kills and an ace in a solo 3-0 run. Lovett and Remmes finished the set with two more kills, and Loyola won, 25-21.
 
Set Four: Loyola and VCU traded points to start the fourth, but the Ramblers used a 4-0 run to go up two, 7-5. Cvitkovic had two aces to fuel Loyola. The Rams tied it three times before the Ramblers blew open the lead with a 10-2 run. Four different Ramblers had kills, highlighted by Cvitkovic's three to jump ahead 12-14. DeBlieck and Lovett tallied late kills, while Remmes would tally the final block, 25-17.
 
Up Next
The Ramblers and Flyer will play for the title at 11 a.m. CT Sunday.