CHICAGO -- Loyola Chicago swept its home tournament with a three-set win against Alabama A&M inside Gentile Arena on Saturday, Sept. 12. The nonconference win improved the Ramblers to 3-5 overall.
Sophomore Leyna Nguyen paced the offense with 13 kills on .310 hitting while junior Claire Van Den Herik posted a career-high 12 kills. Sophomore Katie Scherer also added 12 kills as part of a balanced attack. Senior Avary DeBlieck led the charge at the net with seven blocks and junior Sam Falk had the match-high 14 digs.
Coach Quote: Amanda Berkley
"Alabama A&M is a very good, well-coached team. Our team did a good job of responding to some tough plays in the first set, and then we really came alive in the second set both offensively and defensively. Getting 11 blocks in a three-set match is very impressive. Today's match was a quick turnaround, an earlier start time, but we can't have any excuses. We have to come ready to play, stay positive and motivated. We've got tough teams in UIC and DePaul coming up, so it's important to not get complacent this week in practice."
How It Happened
SET 1 | The Ramblers survived a back-and-forth set to win 25-22 in a stanza that saw six lead changes and 11 tied scores. Van Den Herik led the way with six kills on .500 hitting.
SET 2 | Loyola grabbed a 2-0 lead with a decisive 25-14 set-two victory, controlling the set from early on at 6-5 and never trailing. The Ramblers opened its biggest lead of the set, 11 points, to finish off the set, collecting 17 kills on the way and only one attack error. The front row rejected six Bulldogs' attacks in the set.
SET 3 | Loyola completed the sweep, taking the final set 25-20. Sophomore Mya Ball dished out 13 assists and the defense blocked four Alabama A&M attacks en route to its first sweep of the season.
Inside the Box Score
- DeBlieck had the match-high seven blocks.
- Ball racked up the match-high 41 assists.
- Nguyen also added two aces in the match.
Up Next
Loyola stays close to home for the Chicago Cup, hosting UIC on Thursday, Sept. 17 at 6 p.m. before heading down the Red Line to DePaul on Friday, Sept. 18 at 12 p.m.
