Nov. 3, 2007

Final Stats

Indianapolis, Ind. - Host Butler put together a pair of solid games coming out of intermission to take a 3-1 (30-22, 31-33, 30-15, 30-18) win over Loyola this afternoon at Hinkle Fieldhouse. Loyola drops to 8-19 (4-11 Horizon) while Butler improves its marks to 13-13 (6-8).

Game one was a battle through the midway point, with the teams forging through 13 ties to get to 17-all. However, Butler took over from there, as Porshia Allen had two kills and assisted on two blocks in a 5-0 Butler spurt that gave the Bulldogs a 22-17 lead. Loyola managed to stem the tide but could not string together consecutive points. The Ramblers pulled within four at 25-21 on a Ceci Mattei kill before Brittany Awaii served up the final five points to give BU the opening set.

The second game followed the same blueprint, with nine ties getting the game to 20-20. However, this time it was Loyola that surged in front, as kills from Melissa Craig and Dana VanDiggelen keyed a 5-1 run that gave the Ramblers a seemingly comfortable 25-21 lead. However, Butler answered right back with the next four points to tie it at 25 and the teams alternated points all the way to 31-all before Sarah Singer hammered down consecutive kills to give LU the win and even the match heading into intermission.

Butler set the tone for the rest of the match at the start of game three, scoring the first six points of the set to take control and Loyola never really threatened. Loyola dug itself another early hole in game four, falling behind 4-1 and 9-3 before finally settling in. Although the Ramblers were able to generate some offense, they were alternating points and Butler extended to a 19-11 lead on a LU error. Trailing 21-12, Loyola mustered one last charge, stringing together four straight points to draw within 21-16. However, the Bulldogs answered with the next three points and coasted from there.

VanDiggelen and Zins paced the Loyola attack with 13 kills each while Alyse Serritella recorded her third match of 30+ digs, totaling a match-high 32 in the losing effort. Allen had a match-high 21 kills to lead Butler.

Loyola closes out the regular season next weekend when it hosts Valparaiso on Friday night (Nov. 9) at 7 p.m.