CHICAGO – In the first game with students back on campus, the Ramblers played in front of 1,077 fans to open the Loyola Invitational Friday night. Loyola Chicago fell to Utah, 3-0.
Bree Borum fell just short of a triple-double with nine kills, 24 assists, and 14 digs. It marks the second double-double for Borum this season.
The Ramblers fall to 2-5 overall.
"What a great crowd that we had tonight for our home opener," said head coach
Amanda Berkley. "It was awesome to see all the fans and the students were loud with every point. I'm proud of the team. I think we competed really well and put ourselves in positions to win some sets there, especially the first two. We just have to do a better job of closing out and putting the ball away."
Avary DeBlieck matched Borum's team-high nine kills. She added three blocks, two assists, and a dig. DeBlieck ended the match with a match-high .571 hitting percentage.
Marta Cvitkovic (14),
Jae Fitting (10), and
Kate Maley (10) added double-digit digs on the night. Maley also recorded six kills, four blocks, and an ace.
How It Happened
Set One: The Ramblers came out on a 4-0 tear, forcing an early Utah timeout to start the match. DeBlieck and Maley blocked the first attack attempt by the Utes before Maley and
Esma Ajanovic went for back-to-back kills in the run. Utah fought back to tie the set 6-6 and would take its first lead on a Loyola attack error, 9-8. The Ramblers rallied with an 8-0 run that saw four different players record a kill and a Borum ace. Ajanovic capped the run with the final kill of the run to go up 16-9. Utah chipped away, scoring six of the next seven points to pull within two of Loyola. Two late errors gave the Ramblers set point, 24-21, but the Utes turned four straight points for a 25-24 edge. Loyola tied it twice more and took one more lead, but Utah held on to win, 29-27.
Set Two: The Ramblers and Utes went toe to toe in a second set that saw 12 ties and six lead changes. Loyola took the first lead right out of the gates with a DeBlieck kill. Utah swung the lead in its favor on a Kamry Bailey kill, 5-4. The Ramblers gained a few points of separation with three straight kills from Cvitkovic (1) and Borum (2) for a 14-11 edge. Loyola held on to the lead down the stretch with another Borum kill, 20-17, but the Utes scored eight unanswered points to steal set two, 25-20.
Set Three: Utah held on to its momentum into the third set with a kill from Allie Olsen to open play. Loyola tied it twice before the Utes used a 4-0 run to pull ahead, 9-4.
Ann Marie Remmes and Borum recorded back-to-back kills, cutting the Utah lead to four, 13-9. It wasn't enough to spark the Ramblers as the Utes responded with five straight for a nine-point advantage. Loyola livened up down the stretch with DeBlieck's kill opening a 4-0 run. Maley tallied two straight kills to get the Ramblers within three, 23-20. Utah held composure to tally the final two points and win, 25-20.
Up Next
The Loyola Invitational continues Saturday with some doubleheader action. The Ramblers will take on Northeastern at 12 p.m. and have a rematch with Utah at 7 p.m. in Gentile Arena.
