Nov. 15, 2007

Final Stats

Milwaukee, Wis. - Freshman Mallory Curran tied her career-high with 17 kills in front of her hometown fans to lead Loyola to a 3-1 (30-22, 24-30, 30-25, 30-28) win over Green Bay tonight in the first round of the Horizon League Championship at the Klotsche Center in Milwaukee, Wis. Loyola (9-20) advances to face top-seeded Milwaukee in tomorrow night's quarterfinals.

"It was a great win for us tonight and I was pleased with how we came out and competed and played well," said head coach Marcie Bomhack. "It was a total team effort tonight and we got contributions from everyone. Mallory came out and really gave us a spark and I am hoping that it continues into tomorrow night."

Loyola played with postseason intensity from the opening serve, putting Green Bay on its heels immediately. Three kills from Melissa Craig and seven Phoenix errors helped LU race out to a 13-1 lead. Green Bay would slowly work its way back into the game but the Ramblers still held a commanding 24-12 lead after a Phoenix service error. Some erratic Loyola hitting helped Green Bay pull within five, 24-19, but another Craig kill ended the run and a Curran put-away closed out the 30-22 win.

The teams switched roles in game two, with the Phoenix bolting out to an early 8-2 edge. More good work in the middle from Curran and Craig helped the Ramblers get within four, 18-14, and a block later from Craig and Sarah Singer drew LU within three, 20-17. However, that would be as close as they would get and a Leisl Tesch kill capped Green Bay's 30-24 to even the match at intermission.

Two Phoenix errors and a Lauren Ditscheit ace got Loyola off to a good start in game three and four Curran kills helped the Ramblers extend to a 16-11 lead in the middle stages. Consecutive kills later from Singer and Ceci Mattei built the lead to seven (19-12) and LU would cruise from there, never letting the lead get below four and closing it out with a Craig solo block.

The fourth game was tight throughout with Green Bay battling to keep its season alive and Loyola aiming to put the match away. Loyola took an early 7-4 lead on a Dana VanDiggelen kill but the Phoenix rallied immediately to pull even at 9-9. Both teams settled in from there, with neither team able to gain more than a two-point lead. The teams traded points from 24-all to 28-all before a Phoenix service error pushed the Ramblers to match point. While Loyola has struggled to close out games at times this season, there were no such theatrics tonight as Keily Zins powered down her 11th kill of the night to move LU into tomorrow night's quarterfinals.

"I think we are looking forward to the challenge tomorrow night of playing Milwaukee," continued Bomhack. "They are a great team and a championship team and it will be a good test for us. We have nothing to lose and everything to gain so we are just going to come out and play hard."

Loyola will face the host and top-seeded Panthers tomorrow night at 7:30 p.m.