KALAMAZOO, Mich. – Loyola Chicago picked up its first set win Saturday night, but ultimately fell to Western Michigan, 3-1. The Broncos improve to 2-0, while the Ramblers fall to 0-2.
 
Bree Borum notched her first double-double of the season with 39 assists and 13 digs. She fell just short of a triple-double with nine kills.

"I thought we played much better today and are making progress," said head coach Amanda Berkley. "Western Michigan is a very tough veteran team, and I am proud of our team for challenging them. Now we have to work on consistency as a whole. Bree had a solid match, and I thought she did a good job of competing and being a leader. We are looking to forward to improving as a team and taking what we learned into tomorrow's match vs. LMU."
 
Kate Maley had a standout match in her first career start. The Ann Arbor native recorded nine kills and 10 digs.
 
Marta Cvitkovic led Loyola with 12 kills, while Jae Fitting had a team-leading 27 digs. Avary DeBlieck had a person-best and game-best six blocks.
 
How It Happened
Set One: Keona Salesman put the Broncos ahead early with WMU's first three kills of the match, but the Ramblers chipped their way back. Cvitkovic knotted the match with a kill and two attack errors by the Broncos gave Loyola a 9-7 edge. Loyola's next lead came on back-to-back kills from Borum making it 16-15. The Broncos registered three straight kills from Salesman, Mary Clare Brusek, and Anna Calcagno to go up 23-20. The Ramblers tallied the next two points, but WMU closed out to win, 25-22.
 
Set Two: The Ramblers and Broncos went back and forth to start the second set until Elana Erickson's ace sparked a 4-0 run for WMU to put the Broncos up, 8-4. Loyola later used a 4-1 run with kills from Cvitkovic, Esma Ajanovic, and Ann Marie Remmes to tie the match, 12-12. Loyola gained a narrow lead with four unanswered points. DeBlieck had a pair of kills in the stretch, helping the team go up, 20-18. The Broncos took two more leads and tied the set 23-23, but a Remmes kill secure the first set win of the season, 25-23.
 
Set Three: Loyola's third set started out with kills from DeBlieck and Ajanovic and an Ajanovic ace for an early 3-2 lead. It remained a tight race with nine more lead changes before the Broncos closed the match on a 10-1 run. Cvitkovic attempted to halt WMU's progress with a kill, tying the match 18-18, but the Broncos ended the set with seven unanswered to win, 25-18.
 
Set Four: Despite the Broncos opening set four with two aces and a kill, the Ramblers rallied with a 5-0 run sparked and capped with kills from Cvitkovic and Maley, respectively. Loyola held an edge until Brusek tallied four consecutive kills on a 6-0 WMU run. The Broncos used another 5-0 run to jump ahead by 10 points, 19-9. The Ramblers couldn't erase the deficit, and WMU won, 25-15.
 
Up Next
The Western Michigan Invitational closes Sunday morning. Loyola will play LMU at 10 am CT.