Loyola Suffers Three-Set Loss At Valparaiso - Loyola University Chicago Official Athletic Site

Nov. 7, 2009

Valparaiso, Ind. - Loyola dropped the opening set in extra points and Valparaiso took over from there as the Crusaders topped the Ramblers 3-0 (32-30, 25-14, 25-19) this afternoon at the ARC in Valparaiso, Ind. Loyola drops to 11-17 (4-11 Horizon) while Valpo improves to 20-8 (11-3) with the win.

Loyola started the match strong and had Valpo on its heels in the opening set. An Alyse Serritella ace and a block from Mallory Curran and Colleen Francis helped LU open a 10-8 lead. The teams battled back-and-forth through the middle stages of the game before a Lauren Ditscheit kill and a Crusader error gave the Ramblers a seemingly comfortable 23-20 lead. However, Valpo scored the next three points to move back into a tie but a Curran kill gave the Ramblers first crack at the set with a 24-23 lead. The Crusaders erased that opportunity and had four chances of their own before a Dana VanDiggelen kill and another Serritella ace gave LU another chance, up 29-28. Valpo held strong and ended up rattling off the last three points to claim a 32-30 win.

A 7-0 VU run turned an 8-8 deadlock into a 15-8 lead and the home team was never threatened en route to taking a 2-0 lead in the match. The third set was tight throughout and LU jumped out to an early 6-3 lead. Kills from Natalie Pounovich, Diana Schulte and a Valpo error pushed LU's lead back to three (15-12) in the middle stages but the Crusaders responded by scoring eight of the next 11 points to grab a 20-18 lead and the Ramblers could not string any points together the rest of the way.

Curran added 10 kills and five blocks to her eight kills to pace Loyola. VanDiggelen and Schulte added seven kills apiece for the Ramblers, who were eliminated from contention for the Horizon League Championship with the loss.

Loyola closes out the 2009 season next Saturday night at UIC.